More Information on Photos

Photo resolution does affect the amount of storage space required.  Here are some quick comparisons, using 1 GB of storage space as the basis for the calculations, and showing how many photos might be contained therein. 

• 2 megapixel  = 1119
• 3 megapixel  = 996
• 4 megapixel  = 497
• 5 megapixel  = 395
• 6 megapixel  = 366
• 7 megapixel  = 327
• 8 megapixel  = 290
• 10 megapixel = 221
• 12 megapixel = 169

These figures are all approximations and are being provided here as guidlines only.

When It Comes to Flash Drives, How Big Is Big Enough?

The storage capacity of USB Flash Drives was once measured in megabytes(MB).  It is now more commony measured in gigabytes(GB).  Depending upon how that measurement is done, a gigabyte is equivalent to either exactly or a little more than 1 billion bytes.

Impressive isn't it?

Well, the answer to that is "yes" but only if you happen to know what all of that means.  It can be very confusing, especially when you are warned not to confuse a Gigabyte (GB) with a Gigabit (Gb) and reference is made to what has been said or written by the experts at the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CPIM), or the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where comments are provided relating to binary definitions, RAM sizes, and conventional SI Units.

It need not be that difficult.

For those who must know, a gigabyte is equivalent to eight gigabits.  In practical terms, however, a Gigabyte of computer memory equates to enough memory to hold over 1000 novels (assuming approximately 100,000 words per novel).  That's also enough to hold 18 hours of MP3 music, 12 hours of flash video (at 450x370), or approximately 290 high resolution photos taken with an 8 megapixel camera.

For most of us, that is the kind of information that is more useful in determining how much flash drive memory is enough.  The chart which follows helps to break that down a little further:

It is wise to keep in mind, however, that these are but guidelines.  When it comes to photographs, for instance, higher resolution will take up more memory, and low resolution will take up less.  It needs to be remembered, too, that scanned documents are often scanned as jpg files (or as photos) which means that the numbers of words on the page will no longer have any relevance.  That. in turn, means that once again the portion of the chart that needs to be referenced is the section dealing with the number of picutres per Gigabyte.

The goal is to select a storage device of appropriate size.  In selecting that flash drive, however, it will not hurt to select something bigger than what is then required.  That simply leaves extra space for future needs.  On the other hand, being too small could definitely create some problems.