I got one of these to replace the aftermarket one that came with my car, and I wasn’t happy with the stupid lines it puts up on the picture, which lamely bend this way and that according to what direction the camera guesses you’re going… So I tried to buy a different one on eBay, and when it turned up it didn’t match the description and was identical to the one I already had. So I started mucking around with it…
The blue & white wires are just 12V to some LEDs on the front, the red is 3.3V from a lump in the wiring, and black & yellow are obviously ground & AV. But check out those other pads, labelled F, M & O… I’m wondering if one of those might be for something I recall seeing on another reversing camera for sale on eBay, where you cut a wire or something to kill the stupid lines. Any idea? I couldn’t google squat.
It looks like those pads are all tied to ground somewhere through a resistor. to where they go and what they do its hard to tell.
Commonly in such devices (like reversing cameras), certain functions can be enabled or disabled by shorting specific lines to either power or ground. From your values, it’s possible these lines are intended to be shorted to ground to enable certain features. Without a schematic or further understanding of the board though, it’s hard to say for sure.
One potential way of finding out would be to try shorting each pin to ground one at a time and see if this affects the functionality of the camera in some way. (Disclaimer: this is just suggestion, and should be performed only if you are comfortable doing so and accept the risk of potentially damaging the device.)
Interested nonetheless in what the outcome of the test would be.
I hooked up a momentary pushbutton, in case that increased my odds of not frying it…
So shorting to ground was a good guess, at least for M & O, which I correctly guessed the function of.
Maybe it’s the other way around for F, given shorting it to ground did nothing, and the resistances tested the other way around…?
Or maybe it even needs to be shorted to the AV pad? One way to find out, I suppose…
…Well, I was right and I was wrong - that F pad needed + to work, but it’s just flip vertically. I guess I’ll have to dig into the monitor if I want a proper aspect ratio…
I think those “stupid” lines are an indication of how much space the car needs in the shed or wherever.
I don’t think the camera is guessing anything. I think these lines “bending” indicate the front wheels are not centred (info from the car electronics) and the direction you are going to go when you move.
I think this is a facility to mirror horizontally. Some people prefer to see the view as seen in the rear view mirror and some as if they turn and look backwards. Up to the user.
My car did not have a reversing camera fitted so I fitted one myself about 2 years ago. It does not have the “bending” lines as there is no intelligent connection to the car electronics. But it does have the static lines and the mirror function. I can change the positioning or delete these at my discretion. I currently have these deleted but when I get around to it I might put them back. All this is available via buttons on the monitor. (when I find my instructions)
If you still have the instructions that went with the camera you might find there is a way to do all this without changing anything inside the beast.
Cheers Bob
Yeah nah, as I said, this is an aftermarket camera, replacing an older aftermarket camera which died. It’s only connected to power via the reverse light circuit, and the monitor. The car is from '07, so the optional screen you could get it with was only for satnav. This camera does silly business with bending the lines this way and that according to what it sees, and this ‘feature’ is a godawful abortion.
As for mirroring, it’s safe to say everyone would want that in a reversing camera, but obviously this PCB is intended for more applications. There was absolutely no way to access these options, short of popping open the enclosure and digging out all the glue inside, which I may well do again to the other one above my number plate, to bugger off the stupid lines.
As for this camera, it’s going to be a periscope I can poke out of my sunroof to see past bastard SUVs in traffic (remains to be seen whether that’s a practical proposition, but I reckon it’s definitely worth a shot). The monitor has two inputs, and wakes up when either one gets a signal, so a power switch on the bottom of that aerial, and voila.
Hi. Basically, the similar problem. My camera is 5 pins and I connect it wrongly. Led diods keep working but no picture on the monitor. Is the there any way to fix?
Interesting problem you’re having. Are you able to provide images of how you have everything hooked up? That way we can see what may have gone wrong in the wiring process.
There’s plastic here so i connect it against it in attempt to reverse the picture(wrong position of the objects). The camera did not work. Then connect it as it should but only led diods are works, no picture on the mirror
Hi Ron
That connector should be keyed so it will only go in one way.
You must have really worked on it to get it wrong. You would have to push it really hard to distort the plastic housing for an incorrect connection…
Cheers Bob
Hi Ron.
Did it not occur to that maybe the key in the connector is there for a reason.
One cannot say for sure without knowing exactly what has happened with incorrect connections but it would be likely the camera has been destroyed. Don’t know about the monitor.
Cheers Bob
Its mirror. Yes, both works but reverse shows objects on the left on the right side and vise versa. I tried connect it different and from that moment the mirror stopped showing picture from it. Led diods works. Front camera too. Tried reset, without any change
Hi Ron.
Now we are getting somewhere. All that info would have helped in the first place. We are not mind readers.
So you tried reversing connections in the hope that would fix the picture. Is that correct??
Assuming that is the case. As you found out that will not work. I would suggest you study the owners manual for that system. If you don’t have one my next suggestion would be to purchase a system that does have one.
I too installed a reversing camera, just reverse no forward one. Mine has an option with the video. One is to present the picture as if I were looking in the rear vision mirror (which is my personal preference), the other is to reverse this and present the video as if I turned my head and looked out the back of the car. This is settable via the main menu and buttons on the monitor. If you don’t have this feature then you are probably stuck with what you get.
If the rear camera did work and failed after you played with the connector you have probably destroyed it. One check you might do if the front camera has the same connector would be to connect the front camera to the back cable (properly) and see if this works in that position. If it does you could say with some certainty that the camera is broken.
If this is the case I doubt it would be repairable and you need a replacement. If this came to you via a cheap shop or Ebay you may have to purchase the whole thing.
Cheers Bob
That’s case, no option to reverse it on the mirror. So probably depends on the camera. Found this online. It shows the objects correctly, rigth? I think yea because his car is is on the right side of the road, sidewalk is visible on the right too, he’s reversing and on the mirror, you can see the area behind the car correctly…
I have got no idea. Depends on which country you live in. We drive on the left side here.
If that car in the is driving on the right hand side of the road the pic is as if you are looking out the back directly at the car. I personally prefer it the other way around like looking into the mirror, but that is a personal preference.
You say you have no means of changing this. If so I notice that on your pic there are some buttons along the bottom of the mirror. What do they do??? I think you had better find an owners manual somewhere and find out.
Are you able to try the other camera in the rear position. If so have you done it.
You are pretty short on detail here and if you don’t tell everything there is little hope of help.
Cheers Bob
This weekend i will try to find only a reverse camera. And will test. Maybe stupid question but how to test the camera without connecting to car’s fuse? Is it possible to touch the red wire of the camera to some portable battery 12 volts?
