Tailgate camera

jlcichocki

Tremor Buff
Joined
Aug 2, 2020
Messages
78
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Location
Wisconsin
Current Ride
2020 Ford F-350 Tremor Lariat with sport and ultimate (Iconic Silver)
Has anyone replaced their rear tailgate camera? I find the picture quality is terrible and honestly very little help when I’m backing up to hook up my trailer. My wife has a Mercedes suv and the back up camera is outstanding. Even my parents Toyota suv is better. I’m sick of getting out to hook up and I’m not even close. Or could it be the screen resolution? Thanks.
 
No doubt about it. My wife has a 2017 GLE and it's so amazingly clear. Chevy is same crap as these. I guess once one of the major truck manufacturers step up, they all will?

I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone change out the cameras, figured it might be because of some limitations that would be cost prohibitive to overcome?
 
Don’t have an answer to your problem, but wanted to give some idea of the potential complexity of “just” swapping out the camera for a higher resolution one, and why there may not be any aftermarket options (beyond lack of demand). I have no inside knowledge here. Just a techie. :)

Let’s start with the wiring. The wires themselves coming from the camera back to the computer may not be capable of carrying meaningfully more data than the current cameras provide, particularly when you consider it’s a 20’+ long run (signal degrades over distance). Obviously having to replace these would create significant cost and add significantly to install time.

The hardware decoder, if one is in use, may not be capable of decoding higher resolution video. If this is the case, something like the NavTV options for adding additional cameras would be required so a new, more powerful hardware decoder can be used.

The software may not be capable of rendering a different resolution video effectively. It may crop it awkwardly, downscale it to the same lower resolution of the rest of the cameras defeating the entire point, kill performance, or just not render it at all.

So while it would certainly be nice to have a camera upgrade available, it could easily be infeasible for any reasonable cost. Or just not be possible at all without replacing the entire head unit, which would be both cost prohibitive and undesirable for many (most?) customers.
 
I’m not going to bash Ford because I love my truck but come on Ford!! It’s a $90k truck and there seems to be so many little pieces that scream to be upgraded or replaced. Thanks for the responses.
 
I’m not going to bash Ford because I love my truck but come on Ford!! It’s a $90k truck and there seems to be so many little pieces that scream to be upgraded or replaced. Thanks for the responses.
I agree 100%, however I think that holds true to everything. Seems like for the money, you should always get a bit more
 
I sure wish there were upgraded cameras available. I drive rental vehicles of every brand and shape every week and my $90K truck has by far the worst picture of anything I've driven in the last year, most of which cost 1/2 that much. It's ridiculous that Ford chose to such the low-resolution cameras.
 
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