 You
are here: Home
> Articles
> USB 2.0 Hi-Speed vs. USB 2.0 Full
Speed |
USB 2.0 Hi-Speed vs. USB
2.0 Full Speed
The pictures you take with your digital
camera are saved into a memory card, which
then have to be transferred to your computer
for permanent storage. The computer interface
generally used is a USB (Universal Serial
Bus) connector, and this is typically listed
in the specifications as USB 2.0 Full Speed
or USB 2.0 Hi-Speed. They are not the same
and one is much better than the other by
a factor of 40x. Find out which is better.
The best way to answer this question is
to go back and trace the evolution of the
USB.
USB 1.0 was designed and introduced
by Intel way back in the Windows 98 era,
targetting low cost and low speed devices
with a transfer rate of 1.5 Mbit/s (megabits
per second) or 187.5 KB/s (kilobytes per
second).
Next came USB 1.1, which was 8x
faster than USB 1.0, with a transfer rate
of 1.5-12 Mbit/s.
USB 2.0 is the latest standard
with a maximum transfer rate of 480 Mbit/s for the High Speed mode,
i.e. 40x faster than USB 1.1. However, some USB 2.0 is certified Full Speed (12 Mbit/s) or Low Speed (1.5 Mbit/s), and so with these ones, we're really back to the same slow USB 1.1 transfer rates.
It is therefore obvious which USB standard
consumers would be vying for: USB 2.0 Hi-Speed wins hands down.
The confusion arises because you will not
find any digital cameras today with USB
1.1. They all list USB 2.0 -- but
some adds "Full Speed" and others
lists "Hi-Speed" besides the USB
2.0.
Is there a difference?
You bet!
Only USB 2.0 Hi-Speed devices can claim
to operate at the (theoretical, since few
can actually reach the maximum) rate of
"up to 480 Mbit/s."
If a device lists as simply USB 2.0, you need to read the small prints and verify the transfer rates.
So, if you want the fastest data throughput
rate, ensure the digital camera you are
considering buying supports USB 2.0 Hi-Speed.
If, instead, the specs list USB 2.0 Full
Speed or simply USB 2.0 (without
specifying the maximum rate of 480 Mbits/s),
then it's really using USB 1.1 transfer rates, which is
40x slower than USB 2.0 Hi-Speed.
Another consideration to bear in mind is,
of course, which interface your computer
is using. If your computer uses a Full Speed
hub, then your Hi-Speed digital camera will
fall back to the slower data rate of Full
Speed when plugged into it.
If this article has been helpful to you, why don't you send
it to a friend? Please give us your feedback on how we can make it better, or what articles you would like to read next.
Related Links:
- Wikipedia
- Mac
Weekly
- Voice
- Ars Technica
- Everything USB
|
