V90 Memory Cards: your Choice for 4K Video and Beyond
By Adam Noyes
V90 cards are a great storage solution for cinematographers and video professionals alike. V90 cards are fast solutions that come in formats of SD, SDHC, SDXC and SDUC.
Provideocoalition.com recently created a great article that breaks down some of the advantages to using V90 cards, and some of the differences between V90 options.
Check out some highlights from that article, below.
SD memory cards have one thing in common: they all look and measure the same, but they come in four formats: SD, SDHC and SDXC and SDUC. The base SD card has a maximum capacity of 2GB, SDHC cards give up up to 32GB, SDXC cards can support up to 2TB and the newest version, SDUC can hold up to 128TB. One key piece of information to remember: this definition refers to capacity and is not related to speed, meaning you can have an SDHC card that is as fast as a SDXC.
The definitions for SD cards do not end there, though, and you just have to look at one card to discover a multitude of numbers and symbols that, if you’re not familiar with them, need a device like the Rosetta Stone to be understood. The quantity of information used to classify and identify memory cards has changed since the first versions were introduced, and there are wide discrepancies in memory access speed depending on the SD memory card manufacturer and brand that don’t help consumers to choose when buying a card.https://www.youtube.com/embed/dKy_gyt2Myc?feature=oembed
Varying speeds make it difficult to make out which card can surely record streaming contents. Recording video requires a constant minimum write speed to avoid ‘frame drop’ during recording for a smooth playback, and as we’ve noted above, capacity as nothing to do with the speed the card can achieve, so the SD Association has defined rules that make it easier to know what each type of card is able to offer.
Understanding the Video Speed Class
The SD Association has has also defined various Speed Class standards to answer a demand for advanced video quality recording. Speed Class symbols indicated to host and card products help users decide the best combination for reliable recording (no frame drop). There are three kinds of speed indications: Speed Class, UHS Speed Class and Video Speed Class symbols with a number indicate minimum writing speed. The Speed Classes defined by the SD Association are Class 2, 4, 6 and 10. The UHS Speed Classes defined by the SD Association are UHS Speed Class 1 (U1) and UHS Speed Class 3 (U3).
The one that’s most interesting for video shooters is the Video Speed Class. The Video Speed Classes defined by the SD Association are V6, 10, 30, 60 and 90. V6 and V10 can be applied to High Speed and UHS Bus IF product family. V30 can be applied to UHS Bus IF product family. V60 and V90 can be applied to UHS-II / UHS-III product family.
Yes, I know… now things start to get a bit confusing, with so many numbers and symbols. It’s also important to note that Speed Classes, says the SD Association, are “mainly useful for camcorders, video recorders and other devices with video recording capabilities. Regarding bus mode, it is necessary to use a bus mode fast enough that does not affect memory write speed. C10 is used in High Speed mode or faster, U1 and U3 are used in SDR50/DDR50 or faster, and V60 and V90 are used in UHS-II mode or faster.”
Check out the full article, HERE.
Check out our full list of storage solution memory cards HERE.