Let's try again. I've asked before but never got an answer: are the guidelines in the rear view camera on a 3Gen Prius generated in the camera or in the head unit? IOW, could I get guidelines on our 2015 Prius Four by replacing the camera, or would I need to replace the HU?
They're not generated in the camera... Check out latest in backup cam / dash cam technology and you'll find lots of interesting options. Your car is near 1/2 dozen years old so options for it are greatly antiquated.
Page 219 of the Display Audio System Owner's Manual that came with our 2015 Prius Four has a section entitled "Rear View Monitor Guide Lines (If Equipped)" -- although I suppose that manual could be "generic" and apply not only to the Prius models. Also, I have seen various camera listings on eBay that claimed to be compatible with the 3Gen Prius, and they show the guide lines.
Let's answer again. Some Gen 3s have the Advanced Parking Guidance computer. Some don't. It was an option in higher trims. In cars without the APG computer, the backup camera cable plugs into the composite video input at the back of the head unit. The picture is displayed there. No guidelines. In cars with the APG computer (it's behind the glove box), the backup camera composite video cable plugs into that, not into the head unit. That computer uses other information, like steering angle from the steering computer, to generate guidelines. It adds them to the image, and the combined picture with the guidelines included goes on a cable from the APG computer to the head unit. In 2010-11, the signal went from the APG computer to the head unit over a GVIF cable. On the back of the head unit, that's the blue connector labeled "??" here. The 2012-2015 cars have a different selection of head units and I don't think they have GVIF input. I assume those cars have a different parking computer with a different video output connection. Mine's a 2010 so I can't easily go look.
If you answered the question previously in a different thread and I missed it, I'm sorry. OK, so the parking lines are a function of a separate optional computer. That makes a lot of sense. Now, if only I could find one of those optional units at a reasonable price -- but I haven't so far found one at any price.
You would probably also have to confirm that the head unit you have (there were multiple options for 2012-15) has the video input compatible with the computer's output, and that your wiring harness contains the right circuits for that computer, including the signals to it from the steering position, etc. Those kinds of retrofits can turn into fairly absorbing projects. About missing answers in other threads, that's one of the reasons a lot of PriusChat members will recommend just starting one thread about a question, and continuing the conversation all together in that one place.
Yes, but if you want to improve on the existing options you have a brand new aftermarket backup / dashcam type product is pretty much the only way to get close to what you want in this instance.
There are things I'm qualified to do and things I'm not. Issuing psych diagnoses of why other PriusChatters do what they do falls in the 'not' category. In other news, over in the other thread, sam spade 2 pointed out that the situation may have changed in the post-2012-refresh cars (relevant here, as the OP has a 2015). The post-refresh cars had a wider variety of head units available, and the owners' manuals on techinfo.toyota.com show that the 6.1 inch versions may have some guidelines functionality built in ... still subject to an "if equipped" disclaimer that doesn't get further explained. Probably there's more about that in the repair manual.
How old does a thread have to be before adding another message on the same topic gets one accused of necro'ing a thread?
On this forum, if you post on a thread that's had no activity in a matter of years, you will probably get some of that kind of static. Even then it kind of depends on the thread and the content: if you have just learned the answer to a stumper question that was in a five-year-old thread, it's not unreasonable to go add the answer there. People often get to PriusChat from web searches, and there's nothing that stops somebody getting sent to a five-year-old thread because it matched their search, so it's all to the good if they find the answer when they do. The instances that get the strongest discouragement are when it's, like, a thread about some problem somebody had five years ago, never read the codes, nobody even determined what the problem was, and somebody else five years later tags on with "hey, I'm having the exact same problem" (how would you know?), "how should I fix it?". I've never seen anyone accused of necroposting on a thread that's two days old, but I guess that could change any day.
And you aren't likely to get an answer this time either, at least one you can put money on, because not many people know that kind of fine detail. And there is no guarantee that EVERY vehicle of that vintage used EXACTLY the same assemblies for the camera and HU. If you care about it THAT much, maybe you should replace the CAR !! My Ford not only has guide lines but it also has an alarm if an object is moving in the display.......and a proximity alert for nearby stationary objects too. It has NO dings in the body. My Prius has several.
