SanDisk and Sony Work on 'Memory Stick Pro-HG' Format

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SanDisk and Sony say they develop the "Memory Stick PRO-HG" format expanded from the "Memory Stick PRO" format. The continuing increase in the capacity of IC recording media has broadened its usage as a practical way to store high-resolution digital photos, music and video content (from the Internet or TV programs) on portable devices that are designed to handle digital entertainment content. The demand for real-time recording and transfer of multiple gigabytes of data using IC recording media is expected to increase rapidly, due to the growing popularity of high resolution video and digital still image applications.

"Memory Stick PRO-HG" media offers high performance to meet the stringent demands of end users. This new media format uses an enhanced, 8-bit parallel interface in addition to a conventional serial and 4-bit parallel interface. The interface clock frequency also increases to 60MHz from 40MHz. This means that maximum data transfer speed increases up to 480Mbps, or 60MB/s (theoretical value), three times as fast as that of "Memory Stick PRO" media. The minimum write speed at 8-bit parallel transfer is 120 Mbps, or 15MB/s. These enhancements allow large data amounts of up to several gigabytes to be quickly transferred, as well as the real-time recording of high-resolution video and still images.

Since "Memory Stick PRO-HG" is an extended format of the "Memory Stick PRO" format, "Memory Stick PRO-HG" compliant host devices support the conventional "Memory Stick PRO" media as well as "Memory Stick PRO-HG" media. In addition, the "Memory Stick PRO-HG" media can be used conventional "Memory Stick PRO" compliant host devices as well as "Memory Stick PRO-HG" compliant host devices.

Licensing for the development of "Memory Stick PRO-HG" compliant host devices is scheduled to commence in January 2007.

Major Specifications of Memory Stick PRO-HG:
- Dimensions - Duo size (31 x 20 x 1.6) mm;
- Connector Pin - 14-pin;
- Capacity - 32GB (format maximum);
- Max. Data Transfer Rate - 480 Mbps (theoretical);
- Min. Write Speed - 120 Mbps (As of 8-bit parallel transfer); 40 Mbps (As of 4-bit parallel transfer);
- Operating Voltage - 2.7 to 3.6 V;
- Interface - 8-bit / 4-bit parallel I/F and Serial I/F;
- Max. Clock frequency - 60MHz;
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