How to Choose the Right Car Backup Cameras
Since their invention, car backup cameras have taken the world by storm. They’ve become the most popular devices on every high-end vehicle. Apparently, the market has also responded swiftly to meet the ever-rising demand for the same. You’ll find backup cameras of various sizes, colors, quality, brands, price tags, etc. today. As such, finding the best camera to install to your vehicle becomes a daunting task.
If you’re looking for a high-end camera that meets all your car backup needs, we have some good news for you. We have come up with a definitive guide to help you easily pick the best car backup camera on the market. This helps you avoid spending your hard-earned money on low-quality cameras that end up disappointing you.
Here are TOP things you should look for when buying a backup camera for your vehicle:
1. Which Image Sensor Technology does the Camera come with?
You want to have an ultraclear view of what is behind your vehicle before backing up, right? Good. The first thing to look you should, therefore, look for in any backup camera you intend to buy is the image sensor technology it uses to detect images. There are two popular technologies used in the manufacture of these cameras namely CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) and CCD (Charge-Coupled Device).
CCD offers the best quality images possible and enjoys wide usage in almost all digital cameras available on the market. CMOS, on the other hand, provides low-quality pictures, low resolution, and poorly lit environments. Needless to say, CCD camera works far much better compared to the CMOS.
A company that designs its rearview cameras using the CCD technology would be proud to disclose it to you as their selling pint. If you find that the camera has not information about the technology it uses to detect images, that’s a red flag! Chances are high it’s using the inferior CMOS technology.
2. Night Vision Capability should be Highly Regarded.
Backing up your vehicle is an activity that is not restricted to daytime only. You’ll also find yourself backing up your vehicle at night.
You need a camera that illuminates the rearview even in total darkens. This stresses the need to buy a backup camera that supports night vision.
Luckily, the market has such cameras to suit your needs. Some use the standard LED light while others use Infrared LED to help you see at nighttime.
The standard LED light produces a beam of light that helps illuminate the way while the Infrared LEDs emits light that cannot be seen by the human eye but can be captured by the backup camera to illuminate the rearview.
The main difference between the two sources of light is that the standard LED produces color images while Infrared LED produces black and white images.
Note that both sources produce sufficient high contrast light. It’s upon you to choose the illumination of your liking.
3. The Best Car Backup Camera MUST be Weatherproof.
Did you know that different weather conditions highly affect how your rearview camera functions? For example, grime might accumulate on the camera lens, making it impossible for the driver to use the camera when the need arises.
It is, therefore, important to go for a camera that is weather resistant. Such camera models remain active in all weather conditions, and at all times of the day. They perform exemplary well even in heavy rain or snow. To ensure that your camera is weatherproof, carefully look at its IP rating. It should be at least IP67, the best rating being IP68.
If the manufacturer of the camera advises you not to mount the camera on the outside your vehicle, that’s a clear indication that their product isn’t weatherproof.
4. Does the Camera have a built-in Microphone?
Sometimes the backup camera alone is not enough. You might need someone behind the car to assist you in backing up the car. This is where the audio capability of a camera becomes useful. It allows you to listen to the directions your assistant is giving. Unfortunately, only a few cameras have this feature.
Carefully examine the camera you intend to buy has a built-in microphone. You can easily confirm this by checking to see if you’ll locate a microphone hole on the body of the camera.
While still at it, ensure that the hole is properly sealed. Some low-end manufacturers fail to come up with better ways of sealing the hole, which directly reduces/revokes the camera’ weather resistance capabilities.
Also, ensure that your car display monitor or navigation system supports audio capabilities as well before buying such camera. This stems from the fact that if the system does not have audio capability, the microphone feature would be useless.
5. Ensure that the Camera Supports Reverse Image Feature.
And of course, you must make sure that the backup camera you intend to buy supports the reverse image feature. What’s reverse image function? Simply stated, this feature horizontally flips an image such that the picture you see on your car display appears the same way it would if you were viewing it from the rearview mirror.
Conclusion
Car backup cameras are must have add-ons for every high-end car. The ingenious inventions go a long way in helping you get a clear view of people and objects behind your car. This, together with the traditional rearview mirror and over the shoulder glancing, reduces most backup accidents by a significant percentage. Follow the above well outlines criteria next time you set to buy a backup camera so that you end up with a perfect one that meets all your vehicle backup needs.