Editing XD-Picture Card (section)

== Type M/M+ and Type H cards ==
[[File:XD cards, the MASD-1 microSD card attachment and a microSD card.jpg|thumb|xD cards from the two main manufacturers, between the Olympus MASD-1 xD to microSD adapter card (microSD card below for scale)]]
The original xD cards (Type S) were available in 16&nbsp;MB to 512&nbsp;MB capacities. The Type M card, released in February 2005,<ref name="Steve 2005-02">{{cite web|url=http://www.steves-digicams.com/pr/olympus_02152005_1gbxd_pr.html |title=Olympus 1 GiB xD |publisher=Steves-digicams.com |date=2005-02-15 |access-date=2011-07-05}}</ref> uses [[multi-level cell]] (MLC) architecture to achieve a theoretical storage capacity of up to 8&nbsp;GB. {{As of|2010|June}}, Type M cards are available in sizes from 256&nbsp;MB to 2&nbsp;GB. However, the Type M suffers from slower read/write speeds than the original cards.

The Type H card, first released in November 2005,<ref name="Steve 2005-11">{{cite web|url=http://www.steves-digicams.com/pr/olympus_11282005_typeh-xd_pr.html |title=Olympus Type H xD |publisher=Steves-digicams.com |date=2005-11-28 |access-date=2011-07-05}}</ref> offers higher data rates than Type M cards (theoretically as much as 3 times faster). As of 2008, Type H cards were only available in 256&nbsp;MB, 512&nbsp;MB, 1000&nbsp;MB, and 2000&nbsp;MB capacities. Both Fuji and Olympus discontinued the production of Type H cards in 2008, citing high production costs.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012301olympusxd.asp | title = Faster xD Picture Cards launched: Digital Photography Review | publisher = Dpreview.com | date = 2008-01-23 | access-date = 2011-07-05 }}</ref>

The Type M+ card, first released in April 2008,<ref name="Press Release">{{cite web |url=http://www.olympuspresspass.com/press_pass_cut/opp_press_details.asp?pressNo=578 |title=Olympus Introduces New High-Speed xD-Picture Card For Digital Cameras |publisher=Olympus Press Pass |date=2008-01-22 |access-date=2011-07-05 |archive-date=2009-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220024015/http://www.olympuspresspass.com/press_pass_cut/opp_press_details.asp?pressNo=578 |url-status=dead }}</ref> offers data rates 1.5 times that of Type M cards. As of 2008, cards are available only in 1 and 2&nbsp;GB capacities.

Olympus says that its xD cards support special "picture effects" when used in some Olympus cameras, though these software features are not intrinsically hardware-dependent. Type H and M+ cards however, are required in newer models to capture video at high rate (640×480 @ 30fps). Due to changes in the cards' storage architecture, newer Type M and H cards may have compatibility issues with some older cameras (especially video recording). Compatibility lists are available for Olympus: Olympus America's<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_xdcompatibility.asp |title=FE-Series : xD Compatibility Chart |publisher=Olympus America |access-date=2011-07-05 |archive-date=2011-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629200507/http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_xdcompatibility.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Fujifilm's.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital/accessories/card/index.html#compati |title=Card Adapter |publisher=Fujifilm Global |access-date=2011-07-05}}</ref> Newer cards are incompatible with some [[card reader]]s.