Back-Up Camera Image Quality

W

wlong01

:
2019 CX5 Reserve AWD
My wife has a 2016 Honda Accord loaner and I was blown away by the difference in video quality between the Accord and my CX-5.
It's like night and day. The Honda looks like a 3-D wide screen movie where the CX-5 looks like I'm viewing an image on a 13" tube TV.
The Honda colors and clean and vivid, and yes, my lens is clean.
Only thing the Honda was missing was the grid lines and that may be a setting adjustment, I'm not sure.

I would not trade the CX-5 for the Honda but I hope Mazda does some upgrading to the RV camera.
 
I wonder if the actual difference between the two vehicles is not due just to any camera resolution differences, but also the HU display resolution?

For my own usage, a backup camera is primarily for identifying potentially obstructive objects, including people and animals. So, my CX-5's camera meets my own individual needs in that basic regard.

On the other hand, I'm getting sucked into the whole 4K television craze, so I understand the desire to always have the best and greatest quality possible. :p
 
I have NO complaints with my 2016 CX-5 backup camera. Its extremely accurate, w.r.t. guide lines. Its visible even in real low-light conditions. Its resolution, color rendering capabilities are quite satisfactory. Some offer guide lines which move with movement of steering wheel - which is 1 thing I potentially might look for. Otherwise - very happy.
 
I haven't seen the new 2016 Accord, but my wife's 2014 Accord has decent camera with nice color and clarity, almost as good as the 2016 CX-5. However, at night/low light, the CX-5's is clearly better, easier to see, less noise/grain.

According to specs (http://automobiles.honda.com/2016/accord-sedan/specifications.aspx), the 2016 Accord has the same screen resolution as the CX-5 (800x480), but the screen size is slightly bigger (8" vs 7"), so in theory, the CX-5 screen should look slightly sharper/finer. I'm not sure if the cameras are the same (angle/sensitivity) but I don't think they can be that night and day on the same screen resolution (and hopefully similar screen quality in term of color/brightness/contrast). Other settings that might affect your perception of quality is brightness and contrast (the CX-5 screen is brightest in day mode), how bright/dark the surrounding is.

Also, some people prefer vivid colors at first look, but those pictures/videos usually are not accurate and the details are lost (blown out highlights and too dark shadows). A typical example would be Sony vs Canon/Nikon where the default Sony profile is very vivid and high contrast, making the pictures "pop" more, but turn away most professional photographers.
 
sillyxone said:
I haven't seen the new 2016 Accord, but my wife's 2014 Accord has decent camera with nice color and clarity, almost as good as the 2016 CX-5. However, at night/low light, the CX-5's is clearly better, easier to see, less noise/grain.

According to specs (http://automobiles.honda.com/2016/accord-sedan/specifications.aspx), the 2016 Accord has the same screen resolution as the CX-5 (800x480), but the screen size is slightly bigger (8" vs 7"), so in theory, the CX-5 screen should look slightly sharper/finer. I'm not sure if the cameras are the same (angle/sensitivity) but I don't think they can be that night and day on the same screen resolution (and hopefully similar screen quality in term of color/brightness/contrast). Other settings that might affect your perception of quality is brightness and contrast (the CX-5 screen is brightest in day mode), how bright/dark the surrounding is.

Also, some people prefer vivid colors at first look, but those pictures/videos usually are not accurate and the details are lost (blown out highlights and too dark shadows). A typical example would be Sony vs Canon/Nikon where the default Sony profile is very vivid and high contrast, making the pictures "pop" more, but turn away most professional photographers.
Click to expand...

Maybe there's something wrong with the camera in my CX-5 because it always looked washed-out, too bright, etc. At night there seems to be too much light making it hard to distinguish objects. Maybe I'll have the dealer check it next time I take it in for service.
 
bmninada said:
I have NO complaints with my 2016 CX-5 backup camera. Its extremely accurate, w.r.t. guide lines. Its visible even in real low-light conditions. Its resolution, color rendering capabilities are quite satisfactory. Some offer guide lines which move with movement of steering wheel - which is 1 thing I potentially might look for. Otherwise - very happy.
Click to expand...

Agree. A thousand times better than the display in my wife's 2013 Nissan Frontier. No complaints at all.
 
wlong01: completely understand where you're coming from. In fact, it's night & day difference even when compared to its own 2015 CX-5! I have both 15 & 16.5 CX-5, while happy with all the improvements found in 16.5, the ONE thing I still miss from 15 is backup cam quality! Can't over-emphasize this point.

At first I thought it's due to the bigger screen in 16.5, hence lower display density /DPI, etc. But later realized the problem is more than that:
1. too much highlights under bright conditions as you've pointed out
2. image not as sharp as 15 CX-5 (no idea if it's the display DPI or actually a lower CCD camera sensor resolution??)
3. most disappointing though is an obviously lower frame rate (more like 4fps or 8fps at best, while it feels like real-time 30fps on the 15 CX-5!)

But I agree with others that it does its job just fine, so I've got over it already.
 
Yeah... the CX-5's reverse camera in my '15 is subpar compared to the one on in my '07 G35X but it works for what it is.

I miss the lines that don't turn with the steering wheel in my Infiniti. I only have the left image and not surround in that car.

maxresdefault.jpg
 
I really like the rear camera on my 16'. Quality is better than my bros A4 or Mom's Q5 which are both 2014s
 
Kedis82ZE8 said:
Yeah... the CX-5's reverse camera in my '15 is subpar compared to the one on in my '07 G35X but it works for what it is.

I miss the lines that don't turn with the steering wheel in my Infiniti. I only have the left image and not surround in that car.

maxresdefault.jpg
Click to expand...

Cool! So the red box predicts where the car is heading based on the current steering position? Nice feature.
 
The camera/image in my 2016 is super nice. People have actually commented on the clarity. I love the wide angle view and cross traffic alerts too. I'm totally happy with it. But, I'm sure there is always a better one out there.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk
 
IMHO, the camera in my CX-5 is better than the camera in the 2013 Honda CRV, I don't know about Accords, not the same class of car.
 
As others have mentioned, I've found the backup camera in my '14 to be pretty good. It's considerably better than the camera in my wife's '15 Nissan Rogue, hers is very blurry and it can be hard to make out details.
 
wlong01 said:
Maybe there's something wrong with the camera in my CX-5 because it always looked washed-out, too bright, etc. At night there seems to be too much light making it hard to distinguish objects. Maybe I'll have the dealer check it next time I take it in for service.
Click to expand...

Apologies for a potentially stupid question, but you've tried adjusting in the settings the reverse camera's brightness, contrast, tint, and color to your liking already, correct?
 
While we're on the topic of rearview camera can someone remind me of the key sequence for the 2016 model to turn on the cam display even when the car is not in reverse gear (similar to Power/Seek/Vol+ sequence in 2015 CX-5 & before)? Thanks in advance.
 
The rear view camera is there to assist you. You still have to turn your heads to see your surroundings. It's not there to replace your laziness...
 
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