That sounds like a nice mirror, but it still won't see the dog 1 ft behind and below your bumper. Making a statement that "Putting a rear-facing camera on a vehicle is a major step backward" is narrow minded... <_< but that's just my opinion
Oh man, I just gave myself a good ROFLMAO with my own spelling mistake. I'm going to leave it. I kinda like it and may start using it. "I doubt it'a got a fish-eye lense" :lol: - aka007ii
For me, I like the idea of the camera. I have limited movement in my neck, so this will be great for me and others with limited head/ neck flexability.
And especially considering the Prius is so quiet or even silent when reversing, a child or pet behind the car on a driveway might not hear it backing up...but with the rear camera, you can verify if the coast is clear or not to reverse.
"Wide-angle" and "fish-eye" are the same thing. The "distortion" is just a result of an unnaturally high field of view, but it's worth it to get a better view of the surroundings. Also, the camera's image will most definitely be reversed because it's used the same way a rear-view mirror is, and the mirror's image is reversed. If one were reversed and the other were not then that would confuse the hell out of people. Even if you knew the camera image wasn't reversed, you still would find yourself turning the steering wheel the wrong way and crashing into the car near you.
OK, I was looking at Sigma's site and their Bumble Bee backup camera came both ways. I guess it depends on what you used that camera for.
<_< I don't object to the reverse camera as an option, just having to pay for it as part of a package whether want and/or have any use for it or not. I don't have kids to back up over. My neck mobility is good. I have excellent parallel parking skilz. If the option were available at a reasonable price, I might decide to get it. I don't like having no choice about including expensive components, which drive up the price. There is really no reason this could not be offered as a dealer option rather than included in most of the packages. Then everybody wins, no? (except maybe Toyota doesn't get quite as much money)
Is it possible to take digital pictures or movies with the camera? There could be an entire different site dedicated to people who have been caugh picking their nose! Just some "food" for thought!
Sorry, but I completely disagree with your opinion. Wide angle and fish-eye are two very different types of lenses. "Rectilinear" (rectangular lines) wide-angle lenses actually stretch objects near the edges of the frame, and the fisheye view doesn't stretch objects at the edge of the frame - instead it bends lines, causing a curvature to the picture around the edges (thus the "eye" or rounded description). Rear view cameras are typically wide angle, as there is no need for a fish-eye view in this situation. In addition, the picture displayed on the MFD for a rear view camera can be either similar to the rear view mirror, as you described, or it can be displayed as if you were looking over your shoulder out the rear window. Different cameras do it differently, and some, as mentioned above, allow you to choose the display. I believe it will just be the image seen from looking out the rear of the vehicle. It is not intended to be used while steering, only as a safety feature to see objects otherwise blocked from view. steering while using it will make you nauseous. my $.02
:angry: I just had my 2nd rearender. $520.00 damage. Cost of lower rear cover is $191.00. Very poor design. All else is great. I have 23000 miles on it. But , i still can't see around the thick posts on the corners.
Sure, it's just a regular NTSC output camera module, so you could feed it into a camcorder or a little digital video recorder.. There's another camera control module inside the car that turns the camera on during reverse and converts the NTSC composite into RGBS for the MFD display.
