Allow list for Smart Virtual Background for Linux and Windows in Zoom
The Smart Virtual Background (Smart VB) feature has been added to Zoom’s Linux VDI plugins starting with VDI release version 5.8.4. By using this feature, a virtual background without a green screen can be selected.
The Smart VB feature will automatically be enabled on your computer if it is equipped with the necessary hardware and software. There is an additional library for the Linux operating system that is required to support the new functionality, in addition to the fact that both a new client and VDI Plugin are required to support this feature.
This article covers:
- Additional library requirements
- OpenCL requirements
- VDI Client release requirements
- Hardware requirements
- How to enable Smart Virtual Backgrounds for Linux
Prerequisites for the Smart VB feature allow list
- 5.8.4 VDI Client plugin
- Zoom desktop client for Linux, 5.8.4 or higher
Additional library requirements
It is important to check with the vendor to determine whether there is an update available that contains these libraries within the software package you are using, so that if you are using a package from a vendor such as iGel, Dell, or HP, you can take advantage of it. We work closely with our partners to maintain the latest versions of both the Zoom VDI Plugin and our operating systems. New versions of both may be released in the near future.
If you wish to make use of the new functionality, you must add the following libraries to your Linux operating system.
intel-opencl-icd_20.12.16259-1~ppa1~xenial2_amd64.deb
libigc_1.0.3586-1~ppa1~xenial1_amd64.deb
libigdgmm11_19.4.1-1~ppa1~xenial1_amd64.deb
libnuma1_2.0.11-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb
libze-loader_0.91.2-1~ppa1~xenial1_amd64.deb
libze-intel-gpu_20.12.16259-1~ppa1~xenial2_amd64.deb
Ocl-icd-libopencl1_2.2.8-1_amd64.deb
OpenCL requirements
There are some Thin Client models that can take advantage of the GPU to optimize performance and reduce load on the CPU. A higher version of Intel-OpenCL runtime is required for models that can take advantage of the GPU, in which case it must be OpenCL 2.1 or higher. In order to obtain information about how to install the correct Intel OpenCL runtime library on a regular Linux client, please refer to the following link:
https://github.com/intel/compute-runtime/blob/master/opencl/doc/DISTRIBUTIONS.md
Smart VB will use the CPU to support the functionality that is required in the case of an older version of OpenCL being installed or the thin client model not supporting GPU use.
VDI Client release requirements
You will need to install and use the VDI Zoom desktop client, version 5.8.4.21112 or higher, to use VDI Zoom.
It is recommended to install the appropriate Linux plugin version 5.8.4.21112 or higher before installing plugins.
Hardware requirements
In order to test Smart VB functionality, we have tested the following platforms.
The Zoom VDI Client does not only support the CPUs that meet the specified system requirements, it also supports the virtual background for the following CPUs with 360p x 15FPS video in both Windows and Linux starting with VDI 5.8.4.
ThinClient model | Hardware Details | Max Gallery Participants | Smart VB Support |
Dell 5070 | Intel®️ Celeron®️ J4105 CPU @ 1.5GHz | 5×5 | ✔ |
Dell Wyse 5470 All-In-One | Intel Celeron™ J4105 (4 Cores/4MB/4T/Base 1.5GHz, up to 2.5GHz/10W) | 5×5 | ✔ |
Dell 5070 | Intel®️ Pentium®️ J5005 CPU @ 1.5GHz | 5×5 | ✔ |
T740 | AMD Ryzen Embedded V1756B with Radeon Vega Gfx | 5×5 | ✔ |
T638 | Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz | 5×5 | ✔ |
T540 (TBD) | AMD Ryzen Embedded R1305G with Radeon Vega Gfx | 5×5 | ✔ |
T640 | AMD Ryzen Embedded R5305G with Radeon Vega Gfx | 5×5 | ✔ |
MT46 | AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 4450U with Radeon Graphics | 5×5 | ✔ |
MT45 | AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 3300U | 5×5 | ✔ |
MT32 | AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 4300U | 5×5 | ✔ |
Lenovo M715Q (Raven Rage) | AMD Ryzen 5 2400GE | 5×5 | ✔ |
Lenovo M715Q-1 (Picasso) | AMD Ryzen 5 pro 3400GE | 5×5 | ✔ |
All-in-One LG 38CK900G | AMD Ryzen 3 2200U | 5×5 | ✔ |
How to enable Smart Virtual Backgrounds for Linux
In addition to the models listed in the above table, Zoom automatically enables Smart VB for all clients that have capabilities matching the models listed. Due to the lack of SmartVB features on models that do not meet the hardware requirements, only green screens will be able to be selected if the model does not meet the requirements for SmartVB.
There is no doubt that Zoom has done a lot of work to ensure that the hardware requirements will ensure that the Smart VB is working properly. However, there is still the option of manually overriding the limitations imposed by the allow list to test devices which are not automatically enabled for Smart VB. Zoom does not recommend using this option to override the allow list except for testing purposes. As a result of your testing, if you discover that a model that is currently not supported could be added to Zoom’s allow list in the future, please contact Zoom to share the results.
If you are interested in learning more about how to manually override the Smart VB allow list, please refer to the article on how to do so.
Frequently Asked Questions
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