Will there ever be a libdc1394-like API for USB3 Vision and/or GigE Vision cameras?

Question

As firewire cameras are becoming obsolete because of their bandwidth limitations, it seems as though camera manufacturers are switching to USB 3.0 or Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. Both have standards USB3 Vision and GigE Vision, which many manufacturers are adhering to.

However, it seems as though each manufacturer - Basler, Pointgrey, Ximia, and others - has its own SDK for interfacing with their cameras. When developing an application, developers would need to learn and interface with each API which is a pain, or stick to one manufacturer. I may be misunderstood but, in that case, what is the point of an industry standard if developers need to use manufacturer dependent APIs?

For firewire cameras, developers have access to libdc1394 cross-platform, high level API. They do not need to worry about who manufactures the camera and do not have to write separate drivers. Is something like this even possible for USB3 Vision and GigE Vision? If so, who would develop it?

Answer 1

At least for GigEVision, let me mention the Aravis project is available for linux. It is meant to be a GenTL/GenICam library but only supports GigE right now due to the driver-constraint problems outlined below.

First of all, I agree with Martin's point that creating a general SDK is not in the interest of the camera manufacturers themselves for competitive and support reasons. The manufacturers develop proprietary usb drivers (for USB3Vision) and NIC filter drivers (optional for GigE but highly recommended) in conjunction with their SDKs. It incentivizes them to lock in users to their ecosystem and to separate them from the competition.

This is the reason why I disagree with AdamF - I do not think that GenTL is widely supported by camera manufacturers, particularly for GigE or USB3Vision camera. Supporting GenTL would effectively allow users to use any general purpose SDK while still leveraging the manufacturer's proprietary drivers

I think it would be easier for OpenCV to support GenTL instead of GigE/U3V at this point because the giant hurdle to develop GigE/U3V drivers across the available hardware platforms. GenTL support would at least only be a software-based interface at this point.