Reverse camera, sorted

Reverse camera shows No signal?

Watch this part from 0:00

Most of the time it is the camera format: the kind of signal your camera sends. Pick the right one and the picture comes straight up.

Two names you will see: the format, and Double recording, a mode for the front and rear camera kit.

Before you start

• Clear space behind the car. A friend helps.
• Kept the car's original camera? Check its voltage before you power it from the unit. A few run on six volts, and twelve volts can damage them. How to check is at the end of this page; if you are unsure, leave it unplugged.

Does the unit know you are in reverse?

Watch this part from 1:21

1. Ignition on, handbrake on, foot on the brake, and the clutch in if it is a manual. Check it is clear behind you, then select reverse. You are only doing it to see the screen.
2. The screen switches over and says No signal? That is good news: the unit knows you are in reverse, and you don't need to touch the reverse wire. Go on to the camera format.
3. The screen didn't change at all? See "Screen doesn't switch, or still no picture?" below.

Which camera format do I pick?

Watch this part from 1:50

Your screen might look a little different, depending on the software. Just go by the names. Changing the format needs no code.

1. Stay in reverse. Press one finger on the screen and keep it there until a panel pops up. It can take a few seconds; if it won't open, hold three to five seconds, one finger flat in the middle of the picture.
2. Tap the little car with the sound waves, bottom left.
3. Next to HD backcar standard, tap the arrow. Leave the type line above it alone.
4. Pick the format that matches your camera. The Brummstadt camera uses AHD1080P-25Hz: twenty-five, not thirty. Most original car cameras use CVBS-NTSC. Swipe the list up if you can't see it.
5. Tap OK. It works straight away, with no saving and no restart. Then pop it back out of reverse.
6. A Brummstadt camera still shows No signal? Try AHD720P-25Hz, then CVBS-NTSC, then CVBS-PAL. Each time: back into reverse, hold the picture, little car, pick the format, tap OK, and give it two seconds.

Screen doesn't switch, or still no picture?

Watch this part from 2:55

The screen doesn't change when you select reverse

1. Check your reverse lights come on. A friend can look, or watch the reflection in a window.
2. If they are on, the unit isn't hearing reverse. With the ignition off, find the brown wire on pin three of the power plug behind the unit. Sometimes it is pink, tagged BACK or REVERSE CAMERA.
3. It needs a proper join to the short red trigger wire at the unit end of the camera cable. Use a proper connector or solder, then ignition on and test again. If your reverse lights stay on in park, take the join off.
4. Some cars send reverse through a CAN box instead. If your screen still isn't switching, that join is what the unit needs.

No format gives a picture: three checks with the ignition off

1. The yellow plugs: push them fully home at both ends and give each a gentle tug.
2. The yellow lead's socket behind the unit: it is the single yellow lead with two thin blue wires beside it. Not AUX, not Video In.
3. The camera's own power at the back: its long red wire goes to the reverse light positive, the wire that only has power when you are in reverse. The black wire goes to bare metal on the body, not a painted bolt. Then ignition back on, and try the formats again.

Rear camera lost signals?

Watch this part from 5:06

That message usually means Double recording is on, a mode for the front and rear camera kit. With just a rear camera, switch it off.

1. Open CarSetting, System Settings, then Factory Setting. Not Factory Reset, that one wipes your settings.
2. Tap the Factory Setting button and enter the code 16176699.
3. Tap Feature Setting, swipe up to Double recording and untick it, and 360 too if you haven't got a 360 camera. Tap Save, top right, and let your Brummstadt unit restart.
4. Back into reverse, and there is your picture.
5. If you do have the front and rear kit, leave Double recording ticked. The message then means one of those cameras isn't sending a picture, so check that camera's plugs.

Picture mirrored or upside down?

Watch this part from 6:05

1. Mirrored left to right: in CarSetting, under General Settings on the first page, flip Reverse Mirror to the other position, then check. Something on the car's left should show on the left of the screen.
2. Upside down: with the car off, turn the camera in its bracket, bracket on top. Loosen the bracket screw first if it won't turn.

Guide lines, brightness, flicker or a late picture?

Watch this part from 6:29

1. Don't want the guide lines? In Factory Setting, Backcar Setting, untick Backcar track and both Backcar assist line boxes, then Save.
2. Picture too dark or too bright? The hold panel has brightness and contrast sliders.
3. Music goes quiet in reverse? That is Reverse Mute, in General Settings: switch it off.
4. Picture flickers? Check the plugs, and that the black wire is on bare metal. Some cars pulse the reverse light, and then a power filter on the camera's power lead is the usual fix.
5. Picture comes up late? Watch your reverse lights. If they are late, so is the camera.

Kept the original camera? Check its voltage first

Watch this part from 7:09

1. The car's wiring diagram should show the camera's power supply. Your old radio's sticker doesn't tell you.
2. If you own a multimeter and know how to use it: parked, handbrake on, read the camera's power at the car's own plug, before it is connected to the unit, with the ignition on and in reverse. About twelve volts is fine. About six volts means leave it unplugged.
3. If it is six volts, the simple fix is a camera made for this unit.

Camera gone after a software update?

Watch this part from 7:36

1. Check the camera format again, and Double recording too.
2. A factory reset isn't a camera fix.
3. The short version: reverse, hold, little car, pick the format, then OK.