Backup Cam doesn't adjust exposure for night?

[mlkmade]

I accidentally posted this in the Model S section, asked mods to move but never happened. Sorry for duplicate.


After a recent service visit for unrelated issues I noticed my backup camera no longer adjusts exposure at night, like it used to. I didn't have the update yet so I don't think that's the culprit. Software reset didn't fix anything. Is anyone else experiencing any similar issues with their backup camera being too dark at night?

Rear camera on left not adjusting exposure, front camera on right adjusting exposure properly.

Any thoughts?

 

[MentalNomad]

Open a support ticket...they may be able to diagnose/fix it remotely.

 

[mlkmade]

Open a support ticket...they may be able to diagnose/fix it remotely.

I just want to confirm this isn't normal.

Also, support ticket is same as scheduling a service appointment? Sorry for the dumb question.

 

[ecarfan]

I just want to confirm this isn't normal.

Your photos do not look normal to me. I find the rear view camera does a very good job of providing a nice clear image in the dark when in Reverse. And your camera used to work better. Seems like something is wrong.

 

[RonFTW]

I accidentally posted this in the Model S section, asked mods to move but never happened. Sorry for duplicate.


After a recent service visit for unrelated issues I noticed my backup camera no longer adjusts exposure at night, like it used to. I didn't have the update yet so I don't think that's the culprit. Software reset didn't fix anything. Is anyone else experiencing any similar issues with their backup camera being too dark at night?

Rear camera on left not adjusting exposure, front camera on right adjusting exposure properly.

Any thoughts?

June 19 M3P

I definitely have the the same issue. I took in the car a few months ago for a separate thing, and mentioned this. They claimed they checked in and it was fine.

There is another model 3 in the household, however that is on HW 2.5 while mine is on HW 3.0, and that one is significantly brighter and has better exposure.

I’m going to submit another ticket, it’s definitely something with the exposure or just a defective rear camera... or at worst a defective HW3 cpu lol

 

[camalaio]

I thought this was normal honestly. My rear camera is only useful at night if the reverse lights are on or if there is other lighting.

 

[Kevy Baby]

Yeah, my question would be if you have the car in reverse? I'm actually quite surprised by how good the image is when backing up, though I don't use my reverse camera any other time than backing up (and the car is in reverse).

 

[JBT66]

Agreed pretty sure you need the car in reverse to trigger the back up lights.

 

[Spikey]

I'm seeing this issue with my new Model S. My old S had no issues with reverse camera at night backing into my driveway. Model 3 has no issues either. But, new Model S is terrible. It's completely black in the 1 to 15 foot range behind the car and beyond that things start to light up.
Mobile ranger said Model 3 has a way better camera than the S, and there's nothing he could do. At the service center they said that there's nothing they can do either - but they did check to see if my reverse lights work. Reverse lights are nice and bright - but perhaps they are too focused backwards and no spread downwards to the ground?

I thought I'd look through here to see if anyone else has this issue, and here we are. So, Yes, your model 3 has an issue - that photo looks very similar to my new Model S issue - completely useless at night. However, I'm assuming your reverse lights are working.

My wife discovered that turning on the hazard lights help a lot. So that's our workaround until we can get someone at Telsa to accept that something is wrong.

 

[CharleyBC]

Sorry for what may be a dumb question: are your backup lights coming on when you’re in R? That is, the camera could be fine, and the problem is with the lights. At least a variable to eliminate.

 

[mlkmade]

Sorry for what may be a dumb question: are your backup lights coming on when you’re in R? That is, the camera could be fine, and the problem is with the lights. At least a variable to eliminate.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the issue of EXPOSURE adjusting. The lights work and are irrelevant to the problem.

Look at the picture I posted in the original post. What good does the backup lights do for sentry cam when my car is parked and I'm not inside? If someone came up and vandalized or damaged my car from the rear, you could not see them. If someone came from the front of the car, you could see them. Why? because the camera adjusts it's exposure for night..which the back camera is no longer doing.

 

[CurtisVL]

It has absolutely nothing to do with the issue of EXPOSURE adjusting. The lights work and are irrelevant to the problem.

Look at the picture I posted in the original post. What good does the backup lights do for sentry cam when my car is parked and I'm not inside? If someone came up and vandalized or damaged my car from the rear, you could not see them. If someone came from the front of the car, you could see them. Why? because the camera adjusts it's exposure for night..which the back camera is no longer doing.

Sentry mode actually flashes the reverse light to by the way! I feel like it'd be better if it kept it on though for improved lighting at night when recording. Exposure can only do so much.

 

[mlkmade]

Following up on this thread. Mobile tech came out and replaced the camera after the 1st mobile tech just reset my car and nothing changed.

Well the camera replacement didn't fix anything either. My rear camera still really dark compared to the rest and doesn't adjust exposure.

To better illustrate what's going on I had my neighbor park behind me in the same spot and we took a pic of his rear camera and my rear camera. Same lighting conditions, no break lights or back up lights on. Completely dark alley, with a street lamp in the back left corner.

https://i.imgur.com/8giYflt.jpg - Neighbor's back up camera. Notice the purple/pink tint, that's the exposure/ISO being cranked up to see in the dark better. Hence all the noise. You can see the street lamp is blown out like crazy because of this. This is how my backup camera used to look and how all the other cameras on my car CURRENTLY look.

https://i.imgur.com/8BMo75Z.jpg - My backup camera.. Almost pitch back, hardly anything is visible. You can barely tell that there is another car behind me. Notice the same street lamp barely visible, no pink tint and no exposure/ISO noise.

If they replaced the camera, what else could be the issue? This started when the SC fixed my right repeater camera as it was too loose. Ever since then, my backup camera has been different.

 

[Brother T]

I took delivery two days ago, and mine does the same thing. I though it is because I only crank my screen brightness to 5%. It it does appear something is wrong now that you have brought it up too. Please let us know when and how you resolved this issue.

 

[mlkmade]

I took delivery two days ago, and mine does the same thing. I though it is because I only crank my screen brightness to 5%. It it does appear something is wrong now that you have brought it up too. Please let us know when and how you resolved this issue.

That's the problem..I have visual proof there is a difference but no one at Tesla seems to acknowledge anything is wrong. Some are saying this is normal but how can there be so much variance?

 

[Brother T]

Tesla told me that the cameras are not “night-vision cameras” and need an external light to show images. But the 5 cars I had before the Tesla were not night-vision either but lit up fairly well in dark areas.

 

[RonFTW]

Update here to my original post above
I actually went to a SC (West LA) and had a short conversation with the advisor - they said they would pull the log remotely and review it on their end so I didn’t have to leave my car there.

Next day I got this -

We have reviewed the timestamp and the picture provided. This is expected behavior when dark or viewing in low light conditions.

This is due to limitations with the camera imager hardware and is expected on Model 3 vehicles.

As no service visit is required, we'll proceed to close this appointment.

——————-

The weirdest thing about all this is that there is another model 3 in the household on HW2.5 and that cars camera and image processing works amazing at night!

Not only that, the model 3 on HW2.5 produces a picture which significantly better color.

Mine is on 3.0.

Absolutely bizarre.

Does anyone else experience washed out/grey image quality on the backup camera at night or in lower light?

 

[ecarfan]

Ron here is what I would do in your situation, since you have two Model 3’s:

Take both your Model 3’s to a dark area. Park one of them so the rear view camera is viewing a dark scene. Put the car in Reverse. Capture the camera image.

Now move that car away and put the other car in the same spot and oriented the same way, put it in Reverse and capture the camera image.

Compare images.

In this way you are doing a controlled experiment (it would be even better to find a friend with a Model 3 and have that car to use as well).

Let us know what you find.

 

[Kevy Baby]

Ron here is what I would do in your situation, since you have two Model 3’s:

That's exactly what @mlkmade did in this post above

 

[RonFTW]

Ron here is what I would do in your situation, since you have two Model 3’s:

Take both your Model 3’s to a dark area. Park one of them so the rear view camera is viewing a dark scene. Put the car in Reverse. Capture the camera image.

Now move that car away and put the other car in the same spot and oriented the same way, put it in Reverse and capture the camera image.

Compare images.

In this way you are doing a controlled experiment (it would be even better to find a friend with a Model 3 and have that car to use as well).

Let us know what you find.

I’ve done that and there is significant difference.

The model 3 with hw3 got a little better over past couple updates but the colors are still washed out compared to the one with hw2.5.