for those with back-up cameras...

[rh71]

How good is the image/quality at nighttime?

 

[fstime]

The Lexus system works great.

 

[rootaxs]

Pretty good, even in pitch black environments. It's no multi-megapixel camera, but it's good enough to tell what's behind you. The guidelines also help. This is on a G35.

 

[JJ650]

Ours work fine. Like rootax said, it's not great res but it lets you see as long as it is clean. Gotta wipe it off everynow and then. This is on our '08 TL-S

 

[LTC8K6]

Jeep GC looks pretty good at night.

 

[alfa147x]

The one in our Acura RDX looks better then my 55 inch samsung HDTV

Just kiddin' nah its great iv never had any issue on the IQ

 

[rh71]

do they have infrared or something that allows them to see at night or is it just a bulb by the license plate (which probably wouldn't illuminate far enough back)? All I'm really picturing is a webcam out in the dark - can't work that well... how does yours do it?

 

[ggnl]

Originally posted by: rh71
do they have infrared or something that allows them to see at night or is it just a bulb by the license plate (which probably wouldn't illuminate far enough back)? All I'm really picturing is a webcam out in the dark - can't work that well... how does yours do it?

I would think reverse lights alone would provide more than enough illumination.

 

[MovingTarget]

Bah! Who needs em!?!

But seriously, something like that would vary too greatly from model to model since it is not too widespread. Heck, there is even an aftermarket kit for those things now... Putting some models against others is like comparing a cutting edge ATI/Nvidia card to an old SiS 8mb PCI or Matrox Millinnium Graphics card, or even to an etch-a-sketch.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: MovingTarget
Bah! Who needs em!?!

I don't know about you, but I don't want to have to check behind my car every time I back out. I'm talking about walking around, not looking back. Just in case somebody pulls the dead cat trick, you know.

 

[rootaxs]

Since i've got kids and a neighborhood full of them, the back-up camera helps quite a bit. I'm old school when it comes to backing-up (survey, get in car, survey again, back-up slowly and keep looking) -- Having the camera is just an added precaution. Although it really shines when backing-up in tight quarters like a cramped parking lot and such. The angle of view is also wider than i can see outside my rear windows when i'm parked between two larger vehicles, so it also helps me "see" oncoming cars when i'm backing out of a spot.

To answer the lighting question, the back-up lights are more than enough to provide illumination up to and slightly over the point of where the camera's field of view ends - even when it's pitch black outside. But, as MovingTarget mentions, YMMV.