[Tassem]

Hi All,

Since my variant didn't come with a backup camera and the sharply raked rear windscreen not helping, I decided to get an aftermarket camera installed. I've had good experience with Xenos before and since they had a product in their portfolio that met my requirements, I decided to go with it.

I bought the 7" Mirror mounted display (the 3.5" was unavailable) and a CCD High Definition Camera with 170 degrees of view angle. The camera is extremely small compared to the CMOS version. Its the same size as what a 25 paisa coin used to be.

I must say I'm very impressed. The low light performance is excellent. This was my biggest fear.

I won't bore you with a long story and let the pictures do the talking instead.

The Display unit. Its not quite as big as it appears. But at 7" its not small either. Take a look at the exterior pic to get an idea.


Control shot to show the pitch black condition. Interior light is on so that the camera wont hunt for focus.


Control shot with flash. You can see my brother 10 feet behind the car.


View from inside the car. The rear windscreen is tinted and has 30% visibility.


The camera doing what its supposed to do! I know I don't have to mention this, but the image is sharper than what its appears here. Remember, this is an image of an image.



Now you can imagine what the daylight performance will be. I still haven't adjusted the settings for color/contrast etc.

The unit has inbuilt bluetooth. It can accept two more video feeds. Though I won't be using any of these extras.

The MRP for the 7" Display is Rs.6500 and the Camera retails for Rs.2495. Warranty is valid for a year. I bought it for Rs.7200 all inclusive with Bill and Warranty. If you need to get it done, give a call to Xenos @ 080 329 41199 and ask for Sreekanth. Tell him about my car and you should get it for the same price.

I am in no way associated with Xenos or any of its partners.

[MAS]

Tassem, good work. You are adding a lot of useful gizmos to your Verna.

Few questions
- how much did it cost you?
- does it affect the warranty?
- how is the day time reflection when the screen doubles-up as the internal RVM?
- how is the pic during the day
- where did you install them. Bumper or the license plate garnish
- pics look a bit stretched sideways

I happened to see an ad on our TBhp website about delphi's park assist. Might have to go in for a reverse cam even for the Fiesta as it suffers from the high bootlid phenomenon.

[Tassem]

Originally Posted by MAS

Tassem, good work. You are adding a lot of useful gizmos to your Verna.

Few questions
- how much did it cost you?

Rs.7200 All Inclusive

- does it affect the warranty?

No. No Wires were cut.

- how is the day time reflection when the screen doubles-up as the internal RVM?

This is tricky. Rear view is compromised in the Verna due to the design of the rear windscreen and the viewable area on the original mirror is very narrow. This covers a large area even though most of it is the car's interior. As far as quality is concerned, its acceptable. Not as good as a true mirror. But not bad either.

- how is the pic during the day

Excellent is the word.

- where did you install them. Bumper or the license plate garnish

Bumper mount. Will move to a higher position next to the number plate with custom mounts soon.

- pics look a bit stretched sideways

That's due to the 170 degree wide view coupled with the non-standard resolution of the display. The wide angle lends a slight fish eye effect but helps in peripheral vision. On a related note, the display offers switching between 16:9 and 4:3. It also lets you flip the image in all directions.

I happened to see an ad on our TBhp website about delphi's park assist. Might have to go in for a reverse cam even for the Fiesta as it suffers from the high bootlid phenomenon.

In the Verna its primarily due to the sharply raked windscreen that reversing becomes a slight problem. And the dark tint makes it worse at night. I've never needed a cam on my lancer since the view was excellent. I keep telling people that the Lancer's rear windscreen is as good as the Verna's front windscreen!

I don't think you can go wrong with this one. I originally wanted the smaller 3.5" mirror display but it was out of stock. This one is a tad bigger than I would like, but does the job brilliantly anyways.

[vigsom]

Tassem,

This is an essential accessory ; money well spent.

I wanted to install one in my earlier car,but eventually didn't take the plan forward.

Maybe I'll get one for my b'day and install it on the Corolla ; once you're done with the final mounting position,do post some pics

[Tassem]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Maybe I'll get one for my b'day and install it on the Corolla ; once you're done with the final mounting position,do post some pics

Is it necessary on the corolla? I had a friend's corolla for a week some months ago and found it an easy car to park compared to the Verna. Do you have the center head rest? The car I drove didn have any headrests at the rear.

I plan on getting a fiberglass mount so that the camera sits right in between the number plate lamps. This is the stock position in the Verna. But unfortunately the stock camera costs a whopping 10k! The main reason I want to mount it this way is so that I don't end up replacing the camera everytime a biker decides to rear end me. Which is not uncommon with the Bangalore traffic!

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by Tassem

Is it necessary on the corolla? Do you have the center head rest? The car I drove didn have any headrests at the rear.

I wouldn't say necessary,but the video cam is a nice-to-have thing.

The rear view till boot top level is good thanks to a wide rear glass.
The problem faced during parking is not being able to judge how much gap is available between the rear bumper and any other obstacle behind the car ; gap management becomes important because the car is x'tra long at about 4.5m

There are two headrests at the back ,but don't pose as obstacles to rear view.

[DeKay]

Hi Tassem,

IMO, this is a good alternate if you don't want someone to drill 4 holes in to the bumper of your car for sensors.
At the time you bought this, or during the selection process, was there any unit which could be mounted on the dash? And what else can the 7" screen display other than the camera view? Finally, if you could please post some day time pics, it would be great

[Tassem]

Originally Posted by vigsom

The problem faced during parking is not being able to judge how much gap is available between the rear bumper and any other obstacle behind the car ; gap management becomes important because the car is x'tra long at about 4.5m

I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes its very difficult to judge the gap from inside the car. Especially if parking against a very white wall. The sensors help with that. But the camera is anyday better since you can see if anything is sticking out of the wall. A colleague of mine brushed against some scaffolding once because his sensor could not 'see' the rod.

Originally Posted by DeKay

At the time you bought this, or during the selection process, was there any unit which could be mounted on the dash? And what else can the 7" screen display other than the camera view? Finally, if you could please post some day time pics, it would be great

My car comes factory installed with sensors. To answer your question, they have a 3.5" dash mounted display unit. Looks like a GPS module.

The display has two additional video inputs. So you can plug in a second camera for the front if you want. And perhaps a DVD/VCD/Picture feed. It also has bluetooth functionality for pairing your phone. Calls and music supported. A2DP enabled. A remote is included.

I'll put up some pics in a bit.

[Th!ru]

This looks nice, and seems a must for the coupe-like profile of the Verna with its higher boot. Just a quick question, how does it automatically switch the camera on when you shift to reverse gear? Does it use the existing wiring connection that goes to the reverse lights to detect the gear change, or an extra module gets added while adding the system to switch it on?

[Tassem]

Originally Posted by Th!ru

This looks nice, and seems a must for the coupe-like profile of the Verna with its higher boot. Just a quick question, how does it automatically switch the camera on when you shift to reverse gear? Does it use the existing wiring connection that goes to the reverse lights to detect the gear change, or an extra module gets added while adding the system to switch it on?

The camera has a dual switch option. One is via the reverse lamp and the other is an 'on demand' option. What this means is that when reverse is engaged, the unit automatically switches to the backup cam feed. The 'on demand' feature enables us to switch the cam on when the vehicle is not in reverse. Its just a simple switch that turns on the reverse cam. So the power is drawn from the ignition for this.

[DeKay]

Originally Posted by Tassem

The camera has a dual switch option. One is via the reverse lamp and the other is an 'on demand' option. What this means is that when reverse is engaged, the unit automatically switches to the backup cam feed. The 'on demand' feature enables us to switch the cam on when the vehicle is not in reverse. Its just a simple switch that turns on the reverse cam. So the power is drawn from the ignition for this.

What kind of set up do you have Tassem? Isn't the 'On Demand' system better?

[Tassem]

Originally Posted by DeKay

What kind of set up do you have Tassem? Isn't the 'On Demand' system better?

I have both. We can power the system any way we like. Connect it to any power source and it works. So we can get creative!

The unit switches automatically to any feed that's active with preference to the camera. So if you're watching a DVD and engage reverse, it changes the video feed to the backup cam.

[DeKay]

Originally Posted by Tassem

I have both. We can power the system any way we like. Connect it to any power source and it works. So we can get creative!

The unit switches automatically to any feed that's active with preference to the camera. So if you're watching a DVD and engage reverse, it changes the video feed to the backup cam.

So, you can switch on the back camera anytime you like even when you're running or still and not in the reverse gear, am I right? And meanwhile, you can even watch videos, pictures and whatnot. Sounds good. But how do the videos work? SD card or what?

[Tassem]

Originally Posted by DeKay

So, you can switch on the back camera anytime you like even when you're running or still and not in the reverse gear, am I right? And meanwhile, you can even watch videos, pictures and whatnot. Sounds good. But how do the videos work? SD card or what?

Yes, the video can be turned on whenever I choose to. Plus it automatically comes on when I engage reverse.

There are input cables to which you can connect any source of your choice. This is just a display. It does not play anything as such but can accept video feeds from your HU if it has that option. It can also play music via bluetooth. That's more of a gimmick since the tinny laptop like speakers are worthless.

[DeKay]

Thanks a lot Tassem! Waiting for day-time and much clear pictures now!