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Backup Camera Fuzzy?

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by jreppert, Jul 14, 2017.

  1. jreppert

    jreppert Junior Member

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    I have a new 2017 Prius 4. I love the new lines on the backup camera and it works great in the daylight. At night it is very fuzzy and totally unusable. I mentioned it to the salesperson, but of course it was daylight and he thought it was a "setting." So I made brightness and contrast adjustments in the settings, but it has not helped. I know this is not the way it's supposed to look because I had a 2006 Prius with the first built in backup camera and it was fine at night. Anyone else seen this problem? Thanks.
     
  2. nategold

    nategold Member

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    You clean the lens?
     
    #2 nategold, Jul 14, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 14, 2017
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  3. CooCooCaChoo

    CooCooCaChoo Active Member

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    You know what, I've noticed that it is fuzzy and a bit staticy on mine too. I'll clean the lens and see if that changes the quality. If not, I'll take it up with the dealer on my first maintenance visit.
     
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I found the Gen 4's camera a bit fuzzier than my Gen 3 at night. Not sure if it's the screen or the camera.
     
  5. CooCooCaChoo

    CooCooCaChoo Active Member

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    I took a closer look at the camera. The outer glass has water spotting on it, which will affect quality to a degree. But the thing about cameras at night is that the more sensitive that they make the camera to light, the more noise it introduces. That's the fuzziness that we all see. Gonna have to really clean the outer glass and make more observations, but my gut feeling is that that will be a compromise we are gonna have to live with.
     
  6. KennyGS

    KennyGS Senior Member

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    Toyota (or someone) needs to figure out how to clean away water drops off the lens from inside the cabin. Either an air nozzle or mini wiper, or ...?
     
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  7. smalltimeart

    smalltimeart New Member

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    I recently installed a new head unit with a larger screen and definitely noticed the camera isn't the greatest. It's mainly because it's using composite video in a very noisy environment. Remember back in the day when you hooked up a VCR or a videogame console and you had the red yellow and white wires? It's basically that. Some of you may have hooked up non high def signals to high def tv's and noticed that it looks rather poopy. It's basically what's going on here. If i ever feel adventurous one day i might put in a new high def rear camera. There's zero reason for it but i'm a technician with too much time on my hands :p. Also, I totally agree the water droplets on the lens can be a bit annoying when you're trying to back up in the rain.
     
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  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Or just move it. I found the position of the camera on my Gen 3 collects fewer water droplets than the centrally-mounted Gen 4.
     
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  9. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    You bring something like that to market buddy and your onto a solid winner!
     
  10. CoastRider

    CoastRider Active Member

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    I just figured that's because there's not enough available light for it be crystal clear. But I'm very satisfied with how well it does work at night. It's nice and bright. I use it every day, backing into the driveway. Haven't had any problems with water spots.