Azure Computer Vision - Legacy OCR and Read (OCR) APIs

Ashkan Izadpanah 21

We are currently using Computer vision version 2.0 with the following 2 endpoints in our enterprise application,
<endpoint url>/vision/v2.0/analyze
<endpoint url>/vision/v2.0/ocr --> (Legacy OCR API)

Since Legacy OCR API is not going to be supported anymore, we are planning to upgrade to either version 3.2 or version 4 (once it becomes available).

In version 3.x, Async Read API supports both Images and Document (text-heavy) OCR.
As announced by Azure, in v4.0, there will be 2 APIs:
ImageAnalytics v4.0 for Image OCR (general and in-wild images) - sync
FormRecognizer for document OCR (Digital and scanned documents) - async
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cognitive-services/computer-vision/overview-ocr

Note: we are not currently using FormRecognizer service in our application, and we prefer not to use it (if possible).

Here are my questions:
1- Legacy OCR API is still active (v2.x and v3.x endpoints are still functioning), but Azure is mentioning that this API is no longer supported. When will this legacy API be retiring?

2- For ImageAnalytics v4.0,
a) When will it be available (now in preview)?
b) Will legacy OCR API be available till then?

3- For version 4.0,
a) Other than FormRecognizer service, is there another option for document OCR?
d) Will Async Read API be available or be discontinued?
in other words, will the following Read API endpoints be active?
<endpoint url>/vision/v4.0/read/analyze
<endpoint url>/vision/v4.0/read/analyzeResults/<operation#>

I appreciate your feedback on this matter since our decision plan is highly dependent on Azure team's feedback.

Ramr-msft 17,616 Reputation points

2022-11-15T08:45:59.25+00:00

@Ashkan Izadpanah Thanks for the question. We would recommend to migrate to latest versions.

Form Recognizer REST API v3.0 is now generally available and ready for use in production applications! Update your applications with REST API version 2022-08-31.

Here is the document shows the relationship between supported Form Recognizer SDK and API versions.
Ashkan Izadpanah 21 Reputation points

2022-11-15T15:03:30.82+00:00

With all respect, you did not answer my questions! I still have the same questions/concerns I just asked.
The reason I asked the above questions in here is because I looked into ALL available Azure Pages online and could not find my answers.
Ramr-msft 17,616 Reputation points

2022-11-30T16:11:55.81+00:00

@ AshkanIzadpanah-3588 We have forwarded it to team for some of the questions to get confirmation from the product team.
Ashkan Izadpanah 21 Reputation points

2022-11-30T16:20:24.247+00:00

Many Thanks! Look forward to hearing back from the product team soon.