The ZED and ZED mini are UVC-compatible USB cameras. They are automatically recognized by Windows and Linux which ship with a built-in UVC driver.
If you are having issues getting your system to recognize your device, if your camera feed appears choppy or seems to be dropping frames during video capture, please try the following methods:
Try Different Rear Ports
Plug the camera into another rear USB 3.0 port of your computer. Make sure that it is a USB 3.0-capable port, otherwise the camera will work in USB 2.0 backward-compatible mode with reduced resolution and frame rate. Usually, USB 3.0 ports can be recognized by a blue receptacle.
Tips:
- Avoid front panel USB ports. They usually provide less power and bandwidth than rear USB ports that are soldered to the motherboard.
- Avoid red ports which are branded as "Gaming", "VR Ready" or "USB 3.1" ports. Usually, manufacturers add an ASMedia repeater or controller to the line which do not deliver the same bandwidth as Intel host controllers.
- Put your keyboard, mouse and hubs on USB 2.0 ports. Usually, they do not share the bandwidth with USB 3.0 ports.
Remove Hubs and Extension Cables
Remove any USB hub or extension cable, and plug the ZED directly into the computer. Remove other USB devices that may be sharing the USB bandwidth. If you need to extend your working range, use active cables and hubs with their own external power supply. Check our list of recommended extension cables.
Check your Motherboard and Chipset Specifications
If your camera is not detected or is dropping frames, this can be related to the amount of available bandwidth for your USB 3.0 ports. We recommend connecting your camera on a USB port wired to the Intel host controller of your motherboard (natively integrated since Intel-9 and Intel-100 chipset series). Multiple ports can be sharing bandwidth so try to disconnect all other devices from your USB ports to diagnose bandwidth bottleneck issues.
Add a USB 3.0 Expansion Card
You can add full bandwidth USB 3.0 ports to your computer with add-on host controller cards such as the 4-Port Inateck PCI-E card.
Check your OS
The ZED is compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10, Linux Ubuntu LTS (16.04, 18.04) and Linux for Tegra (Jetson).
Update Drivers
If possible, download and install the newest chipset driver for your motherboard. If you have an Intel processor, the easiest way to update your drivers is to use the Intel Driver Assistant.
Scan for Hardware Changes
On Windows, use Device Manager to scan for hardware changes. After your computer scans for hardware changes, it might recognize the ZED that is connected to your USB port.
To scan for hardware changes, follow these steps:
- Open Device Manager.
- In Device Manager, click your computer so that it is highlighted.
- Click Action, and then click Scan for hardware changes.
- Check if the ZED is now detected.
Power Management and USB Controller
Skipped images may result from the CPU entering a sleep state. If none of above methods worked for you, you can disable the Selective Suspend feature. However, be aware that when the Selective Suspend feature is disabled, USB devices will continue to use power while connected to the computer.
- Open the Device Manager.
- Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
- Right-click each entry titled USB Root Hub and select "Properties."
- Change to the "Power Management" tab.
- Uncheck the check box next to "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power."
- Press "OK."
- Repeat this for each USB Root Hub entry.
- Reboot the computer.
Known issue with USB 3.0 devices: On Windows 8 and 10, trying to reboot with a USB 3.0 device connected can prevent the OS from starting. In this case, unplug the device before rebooting.
Windows 10 Privacy Settings
On Windows 10, the Camera Privacy setting can prevent the ZED or ZED Mini from being opened by any program. To make sure that the camera is accessible, open the Windows Setting, go to the Privacy panel, and select the Camera section to enable "Let apps use my camera".
Allow Camera in Antivirus Software
Some antivirus will prevent access to your PC's cameras for privacy reasons. Unfortunately, this can also prevent the ZED SDK from accessing the connected ZED cameras. To resolve this, you can initially try to disable the antivirus, and if it solves the issue, re-activate it and take a look at its settings to make sure the ZED camera won't be blocked in the future.