Went to test drive Acura RDX and drove tech package & advanced package versions.
While i liked the 360 degree camera option in advanced package, felt like backup camera in advanced version is having very low resolution and of poor quality when compared to Tech package which has higher resolution and better clarity.
still planning to go with advanced package, but didnt really get why they cant maintain the same quality camera and add 360 degree view on top of it.
Did any one observe the same?

 

Is that true? Do they have different cameras?

 

My wife & I both have 2019 RDXs. She has the advanced trim and the camera is noticeably worse than my base trim and not even by a little bit....MUCH worse. They absolutely must have different cameras but I can't fathom why.

 

That's just crazy. And very upsetting as well.

 

Very upsetting? I have no complaints about my back up camera.. heck, it has been raining so much that it makes the camera pretty useless.. mirrors and detectors truly do the trick.

 

I believe they are different camera's in the base and tech vs Advance models, or at least I think there may be some physical difference in how they are mounted.
The Base and Tech models have the "Multi-View Rear Camera", which allows for different views (wide, normal and top down view). I don't believe it actually moves the camera, but uses a fish-eye lens and digitally crops and corrects for the distortion to create the unique views .

The Advance model only has the "Normal" mode, though the advance model also uses a fish-eye lens. However it may be adjusted differently (installed at a different angle maybe) to allow the image to align properly and get the full 360 view. Therefore to get it into a "normal" view, it may have to be distorted differently, and perhaps is not in the "sweet spot" of the lens.

Note: this is just my guess as to how the systems work. I haven't found any official explanation of how the Honda/Acura system works exactly, so I could be way off.

That said, I did notice that when reversing in my Advance model that pressing the camera button will change to a "full screen" reverse mode (vs the 360 view with a smaller reverse view), and the image did seem clearer. However since I only have the Advance model I have no basis for comparison. Personally the reverse camera with 360 is a godsend, as I am usually trying to park within my office's parking garage, which is basically a forest of concrete columns, and having the 360 view makes that much easier.

 

'waldoatticus' said that the camera in his Advance RDX is noticeably *much* worse than the camera in his Base RDX. It is upsetting to me because I'm interested in the Advance RDX and would rather not have the inferior camera in the more expensive car. Why would you even question that?

 

The Advance does have a rear camera washer so perhaps there is a protective cover over the lens on the Advance that makes the picture worse.

 

 

I guess I am just do not put as much importance in the resolution of a back up camera as many other do. I can see if something is there and what that object is. Oh well.. carry on

 

In that case... why are you commenting here? This thread is about the difference in quality between the camera in the Advance RDX vs the other levels. It apparently bothers some people and they would like to know why it is that way and/or what can be done about it. Since I myself have seen better quality cameras, I too would like to know. If you are satisfied with the camera's picture quality, sharpness and resolution, GREAT! Why do you feel the need to say that it isn't important to YOU?

 

Sorry buddy, I am not here commenting at your leisure. I comment on here as an owner of the Advanced model and stating that though the camera might not be UHD-4k, it's more than adequate. I seriously doubt that the Advance model is less quality than the tech but feel free to go to a dealership and prove me wrong.

Feel free to ignore me since I seem to really bother you.. Adios!

 

Sorry I went off on you like that, it was not the right thing to do.

 

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I choose the Advance package for the 360 view, but it was a horrible mistake. The quality is extremely low, mostly for a car that costs me almost $50 000. My cat can’t be distinguished from the concrete floor. I had a technology package loner from the dealer and it just prove me how bad the Advance’s camera are.
That’s no acceptable. 🤯🤬

 

My theory on why the advance camera is noticeably worse is because the other 3 cameras (front and sides) are low resolution as cost cutting measure and they had to match the resolution across all the cameras including the rear one to make the 360 view "work".

 

Guess I did not miss out getting a tech package... the rear camera seems to work well. However, in my Volvo XC90 I have the 360 surround system and in that vehicle it works well for both rear view and surround view. Too bad Acura was not able to do the same.

 

I got a Tech as a loaner and I liked the overhead / birds eye view of the rear camera better than the 360 view on my Advance. It's better for backing up close to something. But I don't parallel park very often so the 360 and side cameras are still better for me.

 

This is a bummer, and something I will have to add to my list to compare on my next trip to the dealership. I am shopping the RDX now and one of my reasons for considering the Advance over the Tech was for the additional cameras. More for the front than the sides. I test drove a Tech and really liked the multiple views of the rear camera and I assumed the Advance would have that, and similar capability in front. Damn.

 

I have never tried the tech package, but my wife have the advanced. I always thought the backup camera quality sucked until... Until one day, my wife switched to the rear view camera only (not the rear + 360 camera view). My initial thought was why? Then I noticed that the rear view camera is much much clearer. From now on, I only use the 360 view when I need it and prefer rear-view-only to have the much clearer image for backing up. I still keep the 360 for the front view tho, because I don't like the fish-eye front view.

 

That is the approach I take, 360 only when needed. Having said that I really love having the front camera option. I have already saved the nose of my car several times. So while I agree the 360 view is worse than other companies implementation, I am still really glad I have it.

I just click through the views I need with the stalk and it works great for me. While I would like higher resolution, I don't need higher resolution. It really does help when parallel parking. The 360 camera and the cooled seats are the main reasons I bought the advance over the tech.

 

You have an Advance? How do you display rear view only? I can only do it in reverse (with the guidelines).

With the stalk, I can only step through front, front wide, sides, and 360. The rear in the 360 view is a top down view but I can't display that view alone. I also can't display the rear view on demand. Only when the car is in reverse.

I had the camera system replaced because it didn't work when I got the car. But I think it works now as described in the manual.

 

Here's the thread about the problem I had originally.

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-rdx-.../#post16398539

 

I don't think the camera resolution is lower. If you go to the reverse-only view, it's not bad. I think it looks so much worse because they are scaling the image down to fit in a smaller window. There may also be something going on with native resolution of the camera vs. screen.

 

I see no difference between the camera on the Advanced (which we own) and the other models. Looks exactly the same to me. But the other models do have more of a fisheye lens, probably because it's a single-view camera.

 

Can you switch your advance model camera view to “rear view only” and then do a comparison to your wife’s (tech) rear view camera, please. That would settle the question for most of us, and may be make the Advance model owners much happier if the quality remains the same in both models.

 

Sure. I can get a picture from her car tonight and post it here. I'll also take one from my base model for easy comparison.

 

The field of view will not be the same, so it may not be easy to do a direct comparison. For whatever reason, the camera in non-Advance models has a crazy wide angle lens. No matter which view you pick on the Advance model, you can't get that same wide angle. But as far as resolution, I don't see a difference.

 

Thanks. I'm finding myself getting wrapped up in this discussion because it would really bug me if I paid extra for the Advance and got less of a camera. I would think the cameras are identical, but what happens is that in the Tech you get 3 different view options from the rear camera and in the Advance, you only get 2, which still bugs me.

 

I'm with you Cuzz. The 360 camera view and the vented seats are the main reason I popped for the Advance. Didn't mind the adjustable suspension settings now that I have it.

 

I’m still heavily favoring the Advance. It’s still a good deal cheaper than any other luxury suvs I’m considering.

 

I didn't realize the cameras were so bad in my advance until I saw the cameras in other comparable vehicles like the Q5 and the XC60 after I sold my RDX. The cameras in my new vehicle are outstanding and are even better than the Volvo which I thought was the best I had seen.

 

I don't the particulars, but it sounds like @89kraus is on to something. This reminds me of a problem I had with a home security system that had a 180 degree lens. It turns out that although that sounds good, what it actually meant was that if you wanted to look at any particular portion of that field of view, it was much lower resolution because it was effectively a rectangular sensor but only using a portion equal to a circle with a diameter equal to the shortest side. So zooming in on any section (which was digital) only reduced the resolution further. If I had to guess, I'd say that something to do with the birds-eye view means that while it's the same camera, it's being used differently in the Advanced model.

I have a tech model, but I've barely used the back-up camera. I didn't even know it had a top-down view until I read this thread!

 

Camera works for me.

But I am a utilitarian: it either works, or not. The camera does what I want from it.

 

Nothing wrong here. Just Acura logic at play.

 

There is definitely a difference. I took my RDX into dealership and they couldn't find anything wrong. So then service guy and manager compared it with a loaner car that happened to be a base model and noticed a difference. They then got an Advanced model off the floor to compare it with my car and they were the same. The service guy said that the quality of the Advanced was definitely lower than the base models. They also looked at the part numbers and said they have different part numbers. Called parts people and asked why quality was lower and they didn't have an answer. The service guy said he was embarrassed for Acura because I paid more for the Advancec model but the quality of camera is definitely lower. He suggested contacting corporate. I already have. All of you who are noticing a difference should also.

 

I guess they were confused when they discovered that!