p38arover
3rd August 2011, 10:14 AM
Some may recall I bought a combined revesing camera/mirror for the P38A after my self-dimming mirror leaked.
http://www.aldi.com.au/au/media/offers/W18_007_reversecamera.jpg
Well, I installed it and found a couple of issues which may not be applicable to all of them but should be considered.
The first and foremost is that it's pretty much useless in daylight. The reflected light from the mirror washes out video screen. It's great in an underground carpark or where the car is shaded.
I really need a better reversing light for night time use (one of mine is blocked by the swing-away wheel carrier). You get a grainy image with the single reversing light but it's black and white. With good lighting, the image is good quality and in colour.
Sunlight hitting the camera side on also creates a lot of flare further reducing it's usefulness.
It regularly forgets to turn off when not in reverse so one is presented with a blue screen so one has to go through a setting up procedure to get it to remember to stay off when no in reverse.
For some reason the manufacturer made the reflective mirror narrower than the housing (see image above) so one has a narrow view.
It takes a few seconds to switch on when reverse is selected.
Would I recommend a mirror/reversing camera? No.
All in all, a reversing camera's screen needs to be mounted lower in the dash so it isn't washed out by ambient light.
http://www.aldi.com.au/au/media/offers/W18_007_reversecamera.jpg
Well, I installed it and found a couple of issues which may not be applicable to all of them but should be considered.
The first and foremost is that it's pretty much useless in daylight. The reflected light from the mirror washes out video screen. It's great in an underground carpark or where the car is shaded.
I really need a better reversing light for night time use (one of mine is blocked by the swing-away wheel carrier). You get a grainy image with the single reversing light but it's black and white. With good lighting, the image is good quality and in colour.
Sunlight hitting the camera side on also creates a lot of flare further reducing it's usefulness.
It regularly forgets to turn off when not in reverse so one is presented with a blue screen so one has to go through a setting up procedure to get it to remember to stay off when no in reverse.
For some reason the manufacturer made the reflective mirror narrower than the housing (see image above) so one has a narrow view.
It takes a few seconds to switch on when reverse is selected.
Would I recommend a mirror/reversing camera? No.
All in all, a reversing camera's screen needs to be mounted lower in the dash so it isn't washed out by ambient light.