ZED SDK 5.0.2 + ROS1: Degraded RGB Image Quality on /image_rect_color (HD720)

Software ROS1
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1

Hello,
I’m currently using a ZED2i camera with the Jetson AGX Orin 32GB Dev Kit, and I’ve encountered an issue with RGB image quality after upgrading the ZED SDK. I’d appreciate any advice or clarification on this.

:pushpin: System Configuration

  • Device: Jetson AGX Orin 32GB Dev Kit
  • JetPack: 5.1.2
  • ZED SDK: 5.0.2
  • ROS Version: ROS Noetic (ROS1)
  • Camera Model: ZED2i
  • Topic: /zed/zed_node/rgb/image_rect_color (HD720 rectified RGB)

:paperclip: Issue Summary

After upgrading from ZED SDK 4.x to 5.0.2, I noticed that the rectified RGB image at HD720 resolution appears blurry and noisy (wavy artifacts) compared to SDK 4.x, where the image was significantly cleaner and sharper using the same ROS1 setup.

:test_tube: Test Comparison

  • With ZED SDK 4.x, image quality on /rgb/image_rect_color was good.
  • With ZED SDK 5.0.2, image appears degraded with noticeable blur and artifacts.

:bulb: What I Tried (Based on ChatGPT suggestions)

I received the following advice that might help:

cpp

mZedParams.enable_image_enhancement = false;

And in common.yaml:

yaml

self_calib: false
image::brightness: 4
image::contrast: 4
image::hue: 0
image::saturation: 4
image::sharpness: 8

It was suggested that the issue might stem from automatic image enhancement or internal resizing behavior introduced in SDK 5.x.

:question: My Questions

  1. Is the degradation of rectified RGB image quality in ZED SDK 5.x a known issue?
  2. Are the above settings (enable_image_enhancement = false, self_calib = false, manual sharpness tuning) officially recommended for preserving image quality?
  3. What are the recommended parameters or best practices for obtaining the best possible rectified RGB image under ZED SDK 5.x + ROS1?
2

Hi @MarkdDk

First of all, I would like to recommend migrating to ROS 2 because ROS is no longer supported by OpenRobotics, and then by us, because it reached its EOL.

Concerning your problem, please send a few images to compare the different behaviors to understand what you are speaking about.
It’s the first time that this issue has been reported.

3

Thank you for your response.

First, the following image was obtained using the ROS1 API after installing the following SDK on JetPack 5.1.2:

Next, the following image was obtained using the ROS1 API after installing the following SDK on the same JetPack 5.1.2 environment:

There was a noticeable difference in the level of blurriness, which resulted in significant differences in tasks such as object detection.

4

Hi @MarkdDk
The two images have two different fields of view.
Did you perform some kind of “manual calibration”?