SDK Lifecycle

Terminology 

Support

If Zivid offers Support for a specific element such as an OS, GPU, compiler, programming language, SDK feature, etc., it means the following:

Zivid SDK can be used with that particular element or configuration.
Zivid Customer Success is ready to assist you in configuring the Zivid SDK to ensure it functions with that specific element or configuration.
In cases where critical issues or bugs arise with the element supported by the Zivid SDK, Zivid will either find workarounds or fix the bugs. For critical issues or bugs affecting non-LTS (Long-Term Support) SDK versions, we will include the necessary fixes in the subsequent SDK release. To obtain these bug fixes and enjoy uninterrupted functionality, you will need to upgrade to the specific SDK version containing the fix.

LTS

The distinction between Support and Long-Term Support (LTS) lies in the following:

Long-Term Support (LTS) SDK version receives maintenance, and sometimes minor feature enhancements for an extended period.
In cases where critical issues or bugs are discovered, a hotfix will be released in the form of a dot release (Patch in Major.Minor.Patch) for the affected LTS SDK versions.

Adding Support

This refers to the first release of a Zivid SDK version that supports a specific element.

Deprecation of Support

This is an announcement that we plan to end support for a specific element in one of the subsequent SDK releases.

Ending Support

This refers to the first release of a Zivid SDK version that does not support a specific element, that the previous SDK version did support.

Release Cycle 

Zivid aims to release a new SDK version every quarter.

Nonetheless, some deviations from this regular release cadence might occur, depending on the size and complexity of the SDK release. Consequently, there is generally a span of 2 to 6 months between consecutive SDK releases.

Feel free to contact Zivid Customer Success via customersuccess@zivid.com to find out the forthcoming SDK version release date and the upcoming software features we are working on.

Supported Operating Systems 

Zivid supports Windows and Ubuntu distribution of Linux. For Nvidia Jetson devices, Zivid supports Jetson Linux, which is based on Ubuntu.

Tip

If you have a choice, always use the newest Long-Term Support version of the operating system, as this will give you the longest support period.

Ubuntu

Zivid supports Ubuntu LTS releases for 5 years after their release date. A new Ubuntu LTS version is released every two years. A new Zivid SDK version will support all Ubuntu LTS releases that are still within the 5-year LTS standard support for Ubuntu Main period.

When is support added?: The Zivid SDK that supports the latest LTS Ubuntu version is typically released 3 to 6 months after the LTS Ubuntu version is released.
When is support ended?: When LTS standard support for Ubuntu Main expires after 5 years for a specific Ubuntu version, the next Zivid SDK version will no longer support that Ubuntu version.

This is Zivid’s planned end of support for different Ubuntu versions:

Ubuntu version	SDK version
20.04	First SDK version released after May 2025
22.04	First SDK version released after May 2027
24.04	First SDK version released after May 2029

These are the last Zivid SDK versions that supported older Ubuntu LTS versions:

Ubuntu version	SDK version
16.04	2.6
18.04	2.9

The installers for these SDK versions can be found at https://www.zivid.com/downloads/revisions.

Jetson Linux

Zivid supports Nvidia Jetson Linux starting from version 35.4.1 and it is available for distributions running on the Jetson Orin platform. You can find Nvidia Jetson Linux version 35.4.1 included in JetPack SDK starting from version 5.1.2. Alternatively, install the operating system separately. It’s worth noting that Nvidia Jetson Linux 35 is based on Ubuntu 20.04.

Windows

Zivid supports Windows 10 and 11.

We have no plans for the end of support for Windows 10 and 11 in the upcoming Zivid SDK versions. Follow this page for any future announcements.

Caution

Please keep in mind that there is no LTS for the last SDK version supporting a particular OS version. For example, Zivid SDK version 2.6 is the last one that supports Ubuntu 16.04, but Zivid SDK 2.6 is not an LTS version. However, there are workarounds that can enable you to use a newer SDK release:

Upgrade the OS
Use Docker

Feel free to contact Zivid Customer Success at customersuccess@zivid.com for guidance on these matters.

Supported GPUs 

Zivid supports Intel and Nvidia, provided that the GPU meets the subsequent compatibility prerequisites:

A GPU driver is available for an OS version that a Zivid SDK version supports
The GPU driver meets Zivid’s OpenCL version requirements

or

Zivid supports Nvidia Jetson Orin which has CUDA enabled Nvidia GPUs.

Support for AMD compute devices/GPUs was removed in SDK 2.11 due to low usage and OpenCL stability issues in the drivers. The last Zivid SDK version that supported AMD is 2.10.1.

Supported CPU Architecture 

Zivid supports:

x86-64 based CPUs from Intel and AMD.
Nvidia Jetson Orin, which has ARM based CPUs from ARM.

Supported Compilers 

Tip

If you have a choice, always use the newest version of compilers, as this will give you the longest support period.

Ubuntu

Zivid supports the default and newer compilers for the Ubuntu versions that Zivid supports.

Ubuntu version	GCC	Clang
20.04	9.3 and newer	10.0 and newer
22.04	11.2 and newer	14.0 and newer

Note

This information might be outdated, and we recommend verifying with the official Ubuntu documentation at https://packages.ubuntu.com/.

Other modern compilers are also expected to work, but only clang and gcc are tested by Zivid.

Jetson Linux

Zivid supports the default and newer compilers for the Jetson Linux versions that Zivid supports.

Jetson Linux version	GCC	Clang
35.1.4 and newer	9.3 and newer	10.0 and newer

Windows

Zivid supports Visual Studio major versions released in the last 5 years.

Example:

Zivid SDK 2.10 was released in August 2023 and thus supports the following major versions:

Visual Studio 2019
Visual Studio 2022

The minor versions of Visual Studio that we support are those that are still supported by Microsoft (see VS servicing for more info).

Example:

Zivid SDK 2.10 supports Visual Studio 2019 and 2022.

For Visual Studio 2019, if the oldest supported version is 16.11, then SDK supports 16.11 and newer minor versions.
For Visual Studio 2022, if the oldest supported version is 17.2, then SDK supports 17.2 and newer minor versions.

For each of the supported Visual Studio versions, we support the default compiler (Microsoft Visual C++, MSVC) toolchains bundled with those Visual Studio versions.

Example:

Zivid SDK 2.10 supports Visual Studio 2019 and 2022.

For Visual Studio 2019, versions 16.11 and newer correspond to MSVC 14.29 and newer.
For Visual Studio 2022, versions 17.2 and newer correspond to MSVC 14.32 and newer.

Supported Programming Languages & Wrappers 

Tip

If you have a choice, always use the newest version of programming languages, as this will give you the longest support period.

C++

The current supported C++ standard is C++17.

Lowest supported C++ standards for different compiler versions

The C++ version supported by Zivid is the highest one that is supported by all supported compilers. This corresponds to the lowest number in the column “Highest supported C++ standard version” outlined in the table below.

Compiler toolchain version

Lowest supported C++ standard

Highest supported C++ standard

GCC 9

C++98

C++17

GCC11

C++11

C++20

Clang 10

C++11

C++20

Clang 15

C++11

C++20

VS 2019 16.11 (corresponding to MSVC 14.29) or newer

C++11

C++20

VS 2022 17.4 (corresponding to MSVC 14.34) or newer

C++11

C++20

The table below shows compilers no longer supported by Zivid and their corresponding supported C++ standards.

Compiler version

Lowest supported C++ standard

Highest supported C++ standard

GCC 7

C++98

C++17

Clang 6

C++98

C++17

VS 2015 14.0 (corresponding to MSVC 14) or newer

C++98

C++14

VS 2017 15.0 (corresponding to MSVC 14.1) or newer

C++98

C++17

.NET

Zivid .NET SDK is designed to work with a particular range of versions within the .NET Framework 4.x family. .NET Framework 4.0 was primarily designed for building Windows applications that run on Windows operating systems. Consequently, Zivid supports building and running applications using Zivid .NET SDK only on Windows.

The lowest .NET Framework version that Zivid SDK supports is the lowest version that is included with the Visual Studio versions we support. See more info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Framework_version_history.

Example:: Zivid SDK 2.10 was released in August 2023. Therefore, the lowest supported .NET Framework version for that SDK version is 4.8, which comes with Visual Studio 2019.

Caution

.NET Framework versions 4.5.2, which comes with Visual Studio 2015, and higher versions are still supported. However, the end of support for versions lower than 4.8 is planned to happen in H1 2024.
Zivid does not currently support the newer .NET or .NET Core, we only support .NET Framework.

Python

Ubuntu

The lowest supported Python version is the default Python version for the given supported Ubuntu version.

Ubuntu version	Python version
18.04	3.6 and newer
20.04	3.8 and newer
22.04	3.10 and newer

Example:: On Zivid SDK 2.9, the lowest supported Ubuntu version is Ubuntu 18.04. Ubuntu 18.04 comes with Python 3.6 as the default version. Therefore, Python 3.6 is the lowest Python version supported for Zivid SDK 2.9 when using Ubuntu 18.04.

Jetson Linux

See the above section on supported Python versions for Ubuntu.

Windows

The lowest Python version supported is Python 3.7.

Windows version	Python version
10	3.7 and newer
11	3.7 and newer

ROS

Currently, Zivid supports ROS1.

The current version of zivid-ros driver supports the following ROS versions:

ROS version	Ubuntu version	Zivid SDK version
Noetic	20.04	2.5 and higher

Caution

ROS Noetic is the last available ROS 1 version and is going to be discontinued in May 2025. Before ROS 1 is discontinued, Zivid plans to release ROS driver during 2024 that supports Ubuntu 22.04 with ROS 2 (Iron Irwini).

ROS versions that past versions of Zivid ROS drivers support:

ROS version	Ubuntu version	Zivid SDK version
Melodic Morenia	18.04	2.5 to 2.9
Kinetic Kame	16.04	2.5 and lower

Long-Term Support (LTS)

Zivid LTS SDK versions receive support for 3 years.

Camera family

Every last SDK version that supports a camera family is an LTS SDK version. Zivid camera families are: Zivid One, Zivid One+, Zivid 2, and Zivid 2+.

Example:: The last SDK version that supported the original Zivid One camera (Note: this does not apply to Zivid One+ camera) was Zivid SDK version 2.3, released in April 2021. Consequently, maintenance for SDK version 2.3 expired in May 2024.

Major SDK version

When we release a new major version (e.g., 2.0), the final release of the previous major version (e.g., 1.8) will become a Long-Term Support (LTS) SDK version. Zivid uses semantic versioning with a three-part version number (Major.Minor.Patch).

Example:: Zivid SDK version 1.8, released in March 2020, was the last SDK 1.x version. Consequently, maintenance for SDK version 1.8 expired in April 2023.

Note

If critical bugs are found in LTS SDK versions, a hotfix will be released in the form of a dot release (Patch in Major.Minor.Patch) for the affected LTS SDK versions.

Version History 

SDK	Changes
2.12.0	Official support for VS 2017 has been removed in SDK. Official support for Nvidia Jetson Orin has been added.
2.11.0	AMD is no longer recommended. Official support has been removed in SDK, see Enable Unsupported Compute Device for Zivid Software.