I never knew I could care so deeply about USB ports

Let me tell you why.

Long story short: Always make sure you are using USB 3.1/USB-C Gen 2 ports for your sensors.

Why does this make a difference?

The importance of the gen 2 usb ports is the data transfer rates, at least when it comes to running a depth sensor. USB 3.0 (now commonly called USB 3.1 gen 1) has maximum transfer rate of 5 GBps. USB 3.1 gen 2 doubles that with a max transfer rate of 10 GBps.

USB-C is commonly associated with USB 3.1 gen 2, but it is not always equal. It is, however, a preferred port along with the USB 3.1 gen 2, as both share high data transfer rates.

How do you know which USB ports you have?

  1. On a PC, go to your Device Manager and expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section.

  2. Here you can right click on each port to learn about type, version, and location of the port.

You can also identify the ports by their icons:

usbGens

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