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App Note:
How Much Flash Do I Need?
Determining Playback Duration For Different File Types

 

Many Alcorn McBride Digital Audio and Video Products utilize flash media for audio/video storage and playback. It's easy to find these storage devices from a variety of manufacturers, but if you're not purchasing your media from Alcorn McBride you should verify the brand has been tested and shown to work at the data playback rates needed by your product. That information is in your user manual, or may be obtained from our technical support department.

Alcorn McBride recommends SanDisk Brand Flash Memory. Thousands of our products are in use with these devices, and our customers have had very good results with them. Some high-bitrate applications require SanDisk Ultra II or faster media. If you're contemplating using a different brand, please check with us about compatibility.

The next step is to determine how large a device you need. This guide will help you do that.
Jim Carstensen
Director of Engineering
 
Equipment
Audio 8-TraXX
AM4
Digital Binloop
Video DVM-7400
Video Binloop
Lighting LightCue

Step 1 - Identify Your Product

The first step in determining the flash card your application requires is to identify what type of audio or video will be stored on it, as well as the total length of the presentation. The following Alcorn McBride products use flash media for the storage of audio/video data:

Digital Audio Machine Model AM4

MP3 Stereo Audio
16-Bit PCM Stereo or Mono Audio (44.1KHz)
Maximum Compact Flash supported is 2GB

Digital Video Machine DVM-7400

MPEG2 Video at 8Mbps (15 Mbps max)
All Compact Flash sizes supported

8Traxx

MP3 Stereo Audio (up to 8 independent tracks at once)
Maximum Compact Flash supported is 2GB

Digital Binloop Repro24D

16-Bit PCM Stereo or Mono Audio (44.1KHz, 48KHz)
24-Bit PCM Stereo or Mono Audio (48KHz, 96KHz)
MPEG2 Video at 8Mbps (15 Mbps max)
All Compact Flash sizes supported

Video Binloop Repro16V

MPEG2 Video at 8Mbps (15 Mbps max)
16-Bit PCM Stereo or Mono Audio (44.1KHz, 48KHz)
All Compact Flash sizes supported

LightCue

512 Channels of DMX Data Recorded Every Frame
Maximum PC-Card supported is 2GB

Step 2 - Determine the Storage Device Size

The final step is to select the correct size of storage device for your application from the selection chart below. For example, let's say you have a Digital Binloop and wish to play a total of 20 minutes of CD-quality (44.1KHz sampling rate) stereo sound effects from a single reproducer. According to the chart, you would need to purchase a 256MB storage device to store the required amount of audio.

Playback lengths are listed in minutes unless indicated otherwise.

 

MP3

16-Bit PCM Audio

24-Bit PCM Audio

MPEG-1 Video

MPEG-2 Video

Lighting

Media Size (MB)

Variable

44.1KHz (Mono)

48KHz (Mono)

44.1KHz (Stereo)

48KHz (Stereo)

96KHz (Mono)

96KHz (Stereo)

3Mbits/s

8Mbits/s

123Kbits/s

64

1 hour

12

11

6

6

4

2

3

1

1 hour

128

2 hours

24

22

12

11

7

4

6

2

2 hours

256

4 hours

48

44

24

22

15

7

11

4

4 hours

512

8 hours

97

89

48

44

30

15

23

9

8 hours

1 GB

16 hours

3 hours

3 hours

96

89

59

30

46

17

16 hours

2 GB

32 hours

6 hours

6 hours

3 hours

3 hours

2 hours

1 hour

91

34

32 hours

4 GB

64 hours

12 hours

12 hours

6 hours

6 hours

4 hours

2 hours

3 hours

1 hour

64 hours

8 GB

128 hours

24 hours

24 hours

12 hours

12 hours

8 hours

4 hours

6 hours

2 hours

128 hours

16 GB

256 hours

48 hours

48 hours

24 hours

24 hours

16 hours

8 hours

12 hours

4.5 hours

256 hours

The actual storage capacity of your card may vary slightly according to the manufacturer's specifications.

 

 
 
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Tel (407) 296-5800 Fax (407) 296-5801 info@alcorn.com