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How is your rear camera after MCU1 to MCU2 upgade (dark?)

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Battpower

Active Member
Supporting Member
Oct 10, 2019
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Uk
I have always had a problem with dark / underexposed image from rear camera, making reversing at night very tricky. I was told by service center originally that it's normal, but then revised to known issue with MCU2 units.

With the recent camera viewer addition, it is now easy to play camera steams from all cams and it's obvious on my display that the rear camera display (& recorded image - which I find interesting) is much darker than others.

In another thread someone posted that owners who have upgraded to MCU2 have seen the same issue. Has anyone managed to get it registered as a flaw that must be looked into / fixed? Any further info? I get the impression that it is not camera related as the upgraded cars have kept the original rear cameras. I have heard it said that it is an image renderring problem but if that's the case, when in the video processing flow does the problem get introduced? Why would the rear camera stream be processed differently from any other cams?
 
I have always had a problem with dark / underexposed image from rear camera, making reversing at night very tricky. I was told by service center originally that it's normal, but then revised to known issue with MCU2 units.

With the recent camera viewer addition, it is now easy to play camera steams from all cams and it's obvious on my display that the rear camera display (& recorded image - which I find interesting) is much darker than others.

In another thread someone posted that owners who have upgraded to MCU2 have seen the same issue. Has anyone managed to get it registered as a flaw that must be looked into / fixed? Any further info? I get the impression that it is not camera related as the upgraded cars have kept the original rear cameras. I have heard it said that it is an image renderring problem but if that's the case, when in the video processing flow does the problem get introduced? Why would the rear camera stream be processed differently from any other cams?

I saw the same issue with the Infotainment Upgrade I had done Middle of March. Since the issue has been present with those who have MCU2 from the factory, I don't know if this is a problem or a bug, or if this is by design.

Since the darker nighttime views apparently with all MCU2 Model S/X then it's probably how it works. Just my guess.
 
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I saw the same issue with the Infotainment Upgrade I had done Middle of March. Since the issue has been present with those who have MCU2 from the factory, I don't know if this is a problem or a bug, or if this is by design.

Since the darker nighttime views apparently with all MCU2 Model S/X then it's probably how it works. Just my guess.

Thanks.

I realize my post was slightly ambiguous in that I did not state that my car is a 2019 MS Raven, so has MCU2 from factory.

I drove an MCU1 MX 2017 loaner a while back, and the rear view camera was fine. Obviously a slightly darker image during daylight is no big deal, but at night when reversing even with reasonable street lights the darker image is much harder to see and in darker surroundings it's useless.

If they left your original camera installed when the MCU was updated then clearly it is not the camera causing the problem.

Good to hear from someone who has seen the change when the MCU was swapped.
 
Thanks.

I realize my post was slightly ambiguous in that I did not state that my car is a 2019 MS Raven, so has MCU2 from factory.

I drove an MCU1 MX 2017 loaner a while back, and the rear view camera was fine. Obviously a slightly darker image during daylight is no big deal, but at night when reversing even with reasonable street lights the darker image is much harder to see and in darker surroundings it's useless.

If they left your original camera installed when the MCU was updated then clearly it is not the camera causing the problem.

Good to hear from someone who has seen the change when the MCU was swapped.

When the wife's Model X with AP2 gets the Infotainment upgrade, I'm curious what happens then because the cameras are different. Will the nighttime view from the rear be as dark as MCU2 from factory and HW2.5 --->HW 3 Infotainment Upgrade customers... I'm curious what will happen then.

Summary

MCU2 from Factory - Rear camera is dark during the nighttime hours.
AP2.5 Infotainment Upgrade (with HW3 Upgrade) - Rear camera is dark during the nighttime hours.
AP2.0 Infotainment Upgrade (with HW3 Upgrade) - TBD
AP1 Infotainment Upgrade (Just MCU upgrade no AP upgrade) - TBD
Pre-AP Infotainment Upgrade (Just MCU upgrade) - TBD​
 
It’s like the turned the contrast up or something.

Like this?

IMG_20200311_215555.jpg

This is the view from the MX 2017 MCU1 under similar conditions:

IMG_20200305_220335.jpg

And a couple of images of all cams from the viewer at night under good street lighting that clearly shows how much darker the rear view is than the others:

IMG_20200428_203747.jpg
IMG_20200428_203813.jpg
 
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Just upgraded a 2014 non-ap car to much. We now can't see anything in the rearview camera at night. Disappointed in this new feature.

Yup. We all have that issue after the Infotainment Ugrade Package. You'll also noticed that the EQ doesn't go over 8 any more, and that there's no Dolby Surround (but that one was expected). Hopefully the camera issue is just software that they can fix, but I got my Infotainment Ugrade Package back in March, and have received about 8 software update since, and it's still a problem. The EQ part is what I want returned back to 10...
 
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When the wife's Model X with AP2 gets the Infotainment upgrade, I'm curious what happens then because the cameras are different. Will the nighttime view from the rear be as dark as MCU2 from factory and HW2.5 --->HW 3 Infotainment Upgrade customers... I'm curious what will happen then.

Summary

MCU2 from Factory - Rear camera is dark during the nighttime hours.
AP2.5 Infotainment Upgrade (with HW3 Upgrade) - Rear camera is dark during the nighttime hours.
AP2.0 Infotainment Upgrade (with HW3 Upgrade) - TBD
AP1 Infotainment Upgrade (Just MCU upgrade no AP upgrade) - TBD
Pre-AP Infotainment Upgrade (Just MCU upgrade) - TBD​

It would be great to fill in the TBA's above.

My MS R LR MCU2 still has very dark exposure on rear cam. Very easy to see using recently added viewer where rear cam is obviously different from the others.
 
It would be great to fill in the TBA's above.

My MS R LR MCU2 still has very dark exposure on rear cam. Very easy to see using recently added viewer where rear cam is obviously different from the others.
I think it's safe to say that all Model S/X that get the optional $2500 Infotainment Ugrade Package will have the same darker reverse camera view screen and the lower EQ settings of 8.
 
Not providing any solutions but confirming that my 2017 Model S rear camera at night is pretty much useless now after MCU2 upgrade. Have to hit brake lights or hazard blinkers on to see anything. I doubt they changed the camera during upgrade. Must be a software issue.

I was told early in 2020 that it was a known issue due to 'image rendering' with MCU2.

What I don't get at all is why all other camera images are fine and just the rear so messed up.

And of course, no sign of fix!
 
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