Sony Memory Stick vs. SD Bus Interfaces
Comparing 2 standards across 13 specifications. 13 key differences identified.
Memory Stick is a proprietary removable solid-state flash memory card format introduced by Sony in 1998. Evolving across standard, PRO (expanded capacity), Duo (compact form factor), PRO-HG Duo (60 MB/s high-speed), and Micro M2 variants, it featured Sony's MagicGate hardware DRM copy protection across Cyber-shot cameras, Handycam camcorders, VAIO laptops, and the PlayStation Portable (PSP).
SD Bus Interfaces define the physical and electrical signaling architectures through which SD and microSD cards transfer data with host controllers. Spanning legacy Default/High Speed, Ultra High Speed tiers (UHS-I up to 104 MB/s, UHS-II up to 312 MB/s, UHS-III up to 624 MB/s), and PCIe/NVMe-based SD Express (up to 3,940 MB/s).
Specification Comparison Table
13 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Proprietary Standard
|
Sony Corporation (with SanDisk for PRO formats) | — |
|
Standard Memory Stick Size
|
50.0 mm × 21.5 mm × 2.8 mm (10-pin interface) | — |
|
Memory Stick Duo Size
|
31.0 mm × 20.0 mm × 1.6 mm (10-pin interface) | — |
|
Memory Stick Micro (M2) Size
|
15.0 mm × 12.5 mm × 1.2 mm (11-pin interface) | — |
|
Key Format Generations
|
Original (up to 128MB), PRO (up to 32GB), PRO-HG Duo (8-bit parallel, up to 60 MB/s), Micro M2 | — |
|
Hardware DRM Security
|
MagicGate (Cryptographic copy protection for ATRAC3 audio / secure media) | — |
|
Operating Voltages
|
2.7V–3.6V (Standard) / 1.8V (Dual-voltage M2) | — |
|
Default Speed (DS) / High Speed (HS)
|
— | 12.5 MB/s (25 MHz @ 3.3V) / 25 MB/s (50 MHz @ 3.3V) |
|
UHS-I (SD 3.01)
|
— | SDR12 (12.5 MB/s), SDR25 (25 MB/s), SDR50 (50 MB/s), DDR50 (50 MB/s), SDR104 (104 MB/s @ 208 MHz 1.8V) |
|
UHS-II (SD 4.0)
|
— | 156 MB/s (Full Duplex) / 312 MB/s (Half Duplex) via 2nd pin row LVDS (0.26V) |
|
UHS-III (SD 6.0)
|
— | 312 MB/s (Full Duplex) / 624 MB/s (Full Duplex dual-lane LVDS) |
|
SD Express (SD 7.0 / 8.0)
|
— | 985 MB/s (PCIe 3.0 x1), 1970 MB/s (PCIe 4.0 x1 / 3.0 x2), up to 3940 MB/s (PCIe 4.0 x2) |
|
SD Express Protocol Stack
|
— | PCI Express (PCIe) + NVM Express (NVMe v1.3/1.4) over SD pins |