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. They are compatible with all of our products, and can handle the high bitrate demands of video playback. 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.
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:
Equipment
Audio:
8-TraXX/E
ProTraXX
TourTraXX
AM4
Digital Binloop
Video:
DVM-7400 (legacy product)
A/V Binloop
DVM-8400 (legacy product)
A/V Binloop HD
Lighting:
LightCuePro
LightCue
Audio Products
ProTraXX
8Traxx/E
MP3 Stereo Audio (up to 8 independent tracks at once)
All Compact Flash sizes supported
Video Products
A/V Binloop Uncompressed
Digital Binloop (Repro24D)
2K 4:4:4 Uncompressed Video w/3G-SDI and HDMI.
SSD Storage Options: 480GB – 960GB – 1920GB – 3840GB
16-Bit PCM Stereo or Mono Audio (44.1KHz, 48KHz, 96kHz)
24-Bit PCM Stereo or Mono Audio (44.1kHz, 48KHz, 96KHz)
MPEG2 SD Video at 8Mbps (15 Mbps max)
All Compact Flash sizes supported
Video Binloop (Repro16V)
16-Bit PCM Stereo or Mono Audio (44.1KHz, 48KHz)
MPEG2 SD Video at 8Mbps (15 Mbps max)
All Compact Flash sizes supported
Digital Binloop HD (ReproHD)
MPEG2 HD Video at 30 Mbps (40 Mbps max)
H.264 HD Video at 20Mbps (30 Mbps max)
All Compact Flash sizes supported
Digital Video Machine HD
Model 8500
MPEG2 HD Video at 30 Mbps (40 Mbps max)
H.264 HD Video at 20Mbps (30 Mbps max)
All Compact Flash sizes supported
Legacy Products
TourTraXX
Digital Audio Machine (AM-4)
Digital Video Machine
Model 7400
Digital Video Machine HD
Model 8400
LightCue Pro
LightCue with Ethernet
MP3 Stereo Audio (up to 8 independent stereo tracks at once)
All Compact Flash sizes supported
MP3 & Wave Stereo Audio files.
All Compact Flash sizes supported
MPEG2 Video at 8Mbps (15 Mbps max)
All Compact Flash sizes supported
MPEG2 HD Video at 30 Mbps (40 Mbps max)
H.264 HD Video at 20Mbps (30 Mbps max)
All Compact Flash sizes supported
1-4 Universes of DMX Lighting Data
512 Channels of DMX Recorded Every Frame (Per Universe)
All Compact Flash sizes supported
1 Universe of DMX Lighting Data
512 Channels of DMX Recorded Every Frame
All Compact Flash sizes supported
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 Audio chart, you would need to purchase a 256MB storage device (or larger) to store the required amount of audio.
Here’s a handy Flash Memory Size Calculator. Please use the following link to find our latest Uncompressed video storage calculator.
Playback lengths are listed in minutes unless indicated otherwise. The actual storage capacity of your card may vary slightly according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
Audio
|
MP3 |
16-Bit PCM Audio |
24-Bit PCM Audio |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Media Size |
Variable |
44.1KHz (Mono) |
48KHz (Mono) |
44.1KHz (Stereo) |
48KHz (Stereo) |
48KHz (Mono) |
96KHz (Mono) |
48KHz (Stereo) |
96KHz (Stereo) |
64 MB |
1 hour |
12 |
11 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
128 MB |
2 hours |
24 |
22 |
12 |
11 |
14 |
7 |
8 |
4 |
256 MB |
4 hours |
48 |
44 |
24 |
22 |
30 |
15 |
15 |
7 |
512 MB |
8 hours |
97 |
89 |
48 |
44 |
1 hour |
30 |
30 |
15 |
1 GB |
16 hours |
3 hours |
3 hours |
96 |
89 |
2 hours |
1 hour |
1 hour |
30 |
2 GB |
32 hours |
6 hours |
6 hours |
3 hours |
3 hours |
4 hours |
2 hours |
2 hours |
1 hour |
4 GB |
64 hours |
12 hours |
12 hours |
6 hours |
6 hours |
8 hours |
4 hours |
4 hours |
2 hours |
8 GB |
128 hours |
24 hours |
24 hours |
12 hours |
12 hours |
16 hours |
8 hours |
8 hours |
4 hours |
16 GB |
256 hours |
48 hours |
48 hours |
24 hours |
24 hours |
32 hours |
16 hours |
16 hours |
8 hours |
32 GB |
512 hours |
96 hours |
96 hours |
48 hours |
48 hours |
64 hours |
32 hours |
32 hours |
16 hours |
Video
|
MPEG-1 SD Video |
MPEG-2 SD Video |
MPEG2 HD Video |
H.264 HD Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Media Size |
3Mbps (CBR) |
8Mbps (CBR) |
30 Mbps (CBR) |
20 Mbps (CBR) |
1 GB |
46 |
17 |
5 |
7 |
2 GB |
91 |
34 |
10 |
14 |
4 GB |
3 hours |
1 hour |
20 |
29 |
8 GB |
6 hours |
2 hours |
40 |
1 hour |
16 GB |
12 hours |
4.5 hours |
80 |
2 hours |
32 GB |
24 hours |
9 hours |
2.5 hours |
4 hours |
64 GB |
48 hours |
18 hours |
5.5 hours |
8 hours |
128 GB |
96 hours |
36 hours |
11 hours |
16 hours |
Lighting
|
1 Universe |
2 Universes |
3 Universes |
4 Universes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Media Size |
123Kbps |
246Kbps |
369Kbps |
492Kbps |
64 MB |
1 hour |
30 |
20 |
15 |
128 MB |
2 hours |
1 hour |
40 |
30 |
256 MB |
4 hours |
2 hours |
80 |
1 hour |
512 MB |
8 hours |
4 hours |
160 |
2 hours |
1 GB |
16 hours |
8 hours |
5 hours |
4 hours |
2 GB |
32 hours |
16 hours |
10 hours |
8 hours |
4 GB |
64 hours |
32 hours |
20 hours |
16 hours |
8 GB |
128 hours |
64 hours |
40 hours |
32 hours |
16 GB |
256 hours |
128 hours |
80 hours |
64 hours |
32 GB |
512 hours |
256 hours |
160 hours |
128 hours |
64 GB |
1024 hours |
512 hours |
320 hours |
256 hours |