Technology Home
Plasma or LCD
Viera Explained
Panasonic Full HD
Our TV Range Explained
HDMI Explained
DVD Explained
Lumix Explained
E.cam Explained
SD Explained
Inverter Explained
3CCD Explained

SD - The Heart of Panasonic’s Creative Network

Digital technology is catalyzing a revolution in our information environment, bringing an incredible convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications. To meet the demands of our more digitally networked society we need a new storage media. A convenient and portable bridge media that links different digital products offline, and permits access by anyone, anywhere, anytime.

The SD Memory Card opens up a whole new world for linking products. The versatility of the SD Memory Card means that you can use the same card in a number of devices, from your LUMIX digital still camera, DVD recorder, digital camcorder, IC recorder to a car stereo. All of these can be networked to any computer with an adapter or card reader, making for easy file transfer, archiving and comprehensive PC based editing.

The SD Memory Card is revolutionizing the way people use audio, video, communications, and information devices and appliances.

Small in Size - Big in Capacity...

Digital devices are getting smaller and smaller, and we’re sure this trend will continue. As it does, the fact that the SD Memory Card is a great solution becomes more and more obvious! At an amazing 24mm wide, 32mm long, and just 2.1mm thick, the SD Memory Card will not restrict the design of products where this technology can be applied. Small size alone is not enough, though. Large capacity is essential for adapting to a variety of digital content types. SD Memory Cards are currently available in a 1GB size which can hold 9 hours of digital video(MPEG4)! and we have just released the 2 GB size !

Available capacities include, 64, 128, 256 , 512,MB, 1GB and 2GB.

Capacity will expand to 3GB, and up to 32GB allowing the SD Memory Card to handle the great volume of data for other content, such as digital video(MPEG2). All this storage in about the size of a postage stamp!

Fast Access

To provide quick response and effortless digital content handling, the SD Memory Card can write and read data at a rate of up to 10MB per second. When it becomes possible to download contents directly using a telecommunications terminal, the card’s high transfer speed will minimize access time and communications costs while reducing stress on the network.

Advanced Copyright Protection

Advances in digital technology have made high fidelity music and other high quality contents readily available. New digital infrastructure, notably the Internet, now permits speedy sharing of information on a global scale.

These developments also enable perfect copies of the original, not to mention mass-produced copies to be made. Therefore, a viable 21st century storage media must apply high level copyright protection technology to encourage the supply of plentiful high quality digital contents.

The security technology built into this card complies with the SDMI* (Secure Digital Music Initiative) specification of CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media), the encryption and certification/authentication standard jointly developed by 4C Entity, LLC.** The card’s control circuitry permits data reading and writing (in its protected areas) only when appropriate external devices are detected. SD-Audio products comply with SDMI.

* SDMI: Secure Digital Music Initiative. A coalition of hardware manufacturers, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), and music industry companies (including UMG, BMG, EMI, WMG, SME, the five majors in the U.S.), dedicated to music copyright protection.
** 4C Entity, LLC: The digital contents copyright protection technology licensing organization of IBM, Intel, Matsushita and Toshiba.