Ok... this is for the geeks amongst us with a fetish for all things storage... :P

Read more at Theinquirer.net

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...specs-released

INDUSTRY GROUP the Compact Flash (CF) Association has released the final specs on revision 5.0 of Compact Flash.

The specification of 48-bit commands and an extended feature set will allow greater storage and a wider feature set that includes TRIM.



The new specification introduces ATA 6 and ATA 8/ACS-2 command sets which make Compact Flash a lot more versatile and bring it up to date with current ATA technology. The extension to 48-bit LBA, a part of the ATA spec, will allow for 144 Petabytes, that is, 144 million Gigabytes of address space and the trim command to reduce wear and tear on precious flash cells. ACS-2 is the part of the specification that added the trim command, in case you were wondering.

The current 28-bit addressing of the Compact Flash 4.1 spec limits addressing to 137GB of data. However, as any video producer will tell you, you'll want a lot more than that for long-running video or just to brace yourself for the upcoming HD holocaust of superhi-def video like Quad HD (2160p) and Ultra-definition (4320p). The new CF 5.0 LBA space can now address up to 144 Petabytes of data - not that you'll ever see that in your lifetime - but in actual use, will allow for 2TB+ CF cards that will enable companies like Canon and JVC to use CF cards as the physical media on Hi-Def cameras.

The specification also adds a Video Performance Guarantee scheme, which is a fancy way of saying that host devices will be able to receive information from the device regarding its performance and preferred operation methods. This is done by 30 or so VPG profiles that are being currently developed by the CF Association.

This is the clincher for the video camera industry (it's no coincidence the CF Association head honcho is the Canon strongman). By providing an optimal profile, the CF card will be guaranteed to perform to the best of its ability, whether you're recording standard definition video or want to go to 4K video definitions and higher.

How difficult is this to implement? Well, it gets easier now, and let's not forget cheaper, as the circuitry is now JEDEC-friendly rather than built on custom ASICs. The CF Assoication is composed of all the major CF-using brands other interest parties.

In the end, you won't be seeing 144PB CF cards anytime soon, but it's good to know that the spec is a bit more future-proof. µ