Which graphics cards are supported by the ZED SDK?
Last updated: October 23, 2026
Our USB cameras are UVC-compliant and can be connected to any platform that recognizes UVC devices. However, to use the ZED SDK, you need an NVIDIA® GPU with Compute Capability >= 7.5, based on the Turing micro-architecture or a more recent one. In practice, this means an NVIDIA® RTX-class GPU; for the best experience, we recommend an RTX model with more than 6 GB of VRAM.
See NVIDIA's website for the complete list of CUDA-capable GPUs and their Compute Capability.
Recommended system specifications
We recommend the following system specifications for developing software with the latest version of the ZED SDK:
PC Minimum | PC Recommended | Embedded Systems | |
|---|---|---|---|
RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB | 4 GB minimum |
Graphics Card | NVIDIA® RTX GPU * | NVIDIA® RTX model with > 6 GB VRAM | NVIDIA® Jetson™ Orin, Thor ** |
Connectivity | USB 2.0 *** | USB 3.0 | |
Operating System | Windows, Ubuntu | Windows, Ubuntu | Jetson™ Linux (L4T) |
* An NVIDIA® GPU with Compute Capability >= 7.5, based on Turing or a more recent micro-architecture, is required.
** NVIDIA® Jetson™ Thor support is under development and can have some limitations.
*** With USB 2.0, the maximum supported resolution is VGA at 30 FPS; see Is the ZED backward-compatible with USB 2.0?
GMSL2 cameras (ZED X family and ZED X One GS, S, and 4K) require a ZED Link capture card, a ZED Box Orin, or a ZED Box Mini; the ZED X One Core requires a ZED Link MIPI capture card.
Please refer to the ZED SDK release page for the list of supported operating system versions for Windows, Ubuntu, and Jetson™ Linux.
Note: on the NVIDIA® Jetson™ Orin™ Nano 4 GB, optimizing the NEURAL and NEURAL_PLUS depth models can take a long time and requires large swap files and memory optimizations to complete.
Minimum ZED SDK version per camera
Each camera model was introduced in a specific version of the ZED SDK. Using a camera requires that version or a newer one:
Camera model | Minimum ZED SDK version |
|---|---|
ZED Mini | v2.3 |
ZED 2i | v3.5 |
ZED X | v4.0 |
ZED X Mini | v4.0 |
ZED X One GS | v4.2 |
ZED X One 4K | v4.2 |
ZED X One S | v4.2 |
ZED X Nano | v5.3 |
ZED X One Core | v5.5 |
We always recommend installing the latest ZED SDK release, which supports every camera listed above.
NVIDIA® driver requirements
We recommend using the latest NVIDIA® drivers available for your desktop/laptop GPU. This is not required on NVIDIA® Jetson™ embedded systems, as the drivers are already included in the Jetson™ Linux distribution.
Windows: follow the instructions of the official NVIDIA Driver Download page to get the latest drivers for your GPU.
Ubuntu: install the open kernel module flavor:
sudo apt-get install -y nvidia-openor the proprietary kernel module flavor:
sudo apt-get install -y cuda-driversFor more details, see the official NVIDIA Driver Installation Guide for Ubuntu.
For more information, see the Recommended Specifications for ZED SDK documentation page.