SD Memory Card Speed Differences

[bedfordpreneur]

I've been running into an issue with my new DXG-595V camcorder. When shooting in 720p or 1080p the video doesn't turn out to be very smooth. I thought this was due to my computer but converting it to a Divx file with lower resolution, showed the same choppiness. I'm wondering if this is due to my using a cheap Lexar 1GB SD Memory card from Walmart. I'm wondering if the write speed of this card is to little to handle HD video. The lower resolutions, doesn't seem to experience this problem.

I wanted to check here first before buying a faster memory card, just to make sure that this in fact might be the problem, rather than the camera itself having a problem.

I saw at Walmart they have 60x 4GB for $18.88. The write speed on the package says 9mb a second, would this be fast enough for 720p and 1080p. Or should I spend more and get a Sandisk Ultra II 15mbs.

[TCav]

First, the amount of fragmentation int he file system can do what you're describing. If you're going to shoot HD video, you should format the card first.

Second, to make sure you're getting a card that's fast enough to get the performance you need, you should go by the SD Speed Class.

[[email protected]]

Buy the best card you can afford... and if it doesn't fix the problem... return it.

According to this review, the cam puts out a studdering 1080p video:

http://www.**********************/camc...w_roundup.html

Here's another comment to take into consideration:

To playback HD recorded material with this camera, you need to install the included Arcsoft Total Media Extreme software. Even though the files are recorded in Quicktime (MOV) format, the Arcsoft Media Extreme player plays the files MUCH smoother that the Quicktime player itself.

[JimC]

bedfordpreneur wrote:

I saw at Walmart they have 60x 4GB for $18.88. The write speed on the package says 9mb a second, would this be fast enough for 720p and 1080p. Or should I spend more and get a Sandisk Ultra II 15mbs.

Or, grab a faster 8GB Transcend Class 6 SDHC card with twice as much space as that 4GB Card for less. ;-)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820208293

Click on the larger size of the first graph to see read/write performance of an 8GB Transcend Class 6 SDHC card (around 14MB/second write and 19MB/Second read with larger block sizes):

http://www.tabletpcreview.com/default.asp?newsID=109

But, the card speed may not have anything to do with your playback issues. That's more likely the speed of your PC. Make sure you're copying the files to your hard drive first for playback (so, that you're not trying to play them over a slower USB connection).