WPJoe

Whenever I go into reverse at night, the backup camera comes on but its too dark and nothing can be seen.

I need to manually use the touchpad to activate a light so I can see anything at night.

I would imagine/hope there is some way to have a default setting where at night the rear camera is automatically illuminated? Does anyone know how to do this? On no other car I have owned have I needed to manually hit a button to make sure there was light for the rear camera when backing up!

Thank you

JB in AZ

What light are you activating from the touch pad? The back up lights should come on when you are in reverse.

WPJoe

On the screen when the Rear Camera comes up there is a Moon type of icon (I dont recall exactly) that I think activates the light manually.

It is not coming on automatically at night - I need to manually do it.

RDX10

That moon icon is for the screens day and night mode. The issue isn't with your camera not being lighted enough. Rather your infotainment screen isn't brightening like it's supposed to at night.

Check your settings for the screen automatic mode.

markm929

Also, this isn't turning on a light, it is opening the lens iris to allow more light in so the image is clearer at night.

WPJoe

I just went through Settings.>> Display
I see Day Mode (which is what it was in) and Night Mode (which made the screen dimmer)

I dont see anything called Automatic Mode.

arjaykay

Settings -> Display -> Night Mode -> Adjust Brightness and then select More Settings to adjust Contrast and Black Level. By playing with these settings, you should be able to brighten the camera.

WPJoe

Hi - thanks to everyone who replied to this thread I started a month ago.
I have tried everything suggested and I am still having this problem - at night, when I go into reverse, my backup camera is totally dark. The camera is showing whats behind me, but it looks as if there is a light that isnt illuminating, so its basically just showing night darkness behind me and its very hard to make anything out at all.

I played with brightness and contrast and it affects the screen but it doesnt change the fact that the camera is picking up nothing but darkness - making it unusable. I assume I am missing something obvious but I cant figure out what it is and Im getting pretty desperate! Any ideas?

samiam_68

Are your back-up lights working?

WPJoe

As far as I know they are but I will check them tonight. Is there a setting that would have deactivated them I can check, or are you just suggesting there may be an issue here?

samiam_68

Backup lights may not be working - could be a switch problem. It's easy to check and eliminate the obvious - just have someone look at the back of the car while you shift into reverse.

There may also be protective shipping film on the camera lens that was never removed. Another easy thing to check.

Coolguy

Or maybe the daylight sensor issue?

WPJoe

These are good suggestions - thank you. I feel like it was working at one point when I first got the car but to be honest, Im no longer positive.
I will check for the film as that would be an amazing and easy fix!
Of course I will also check the tail lights since that one is obvious...
Are there other suggestions?

WPJoe

I did a search on this but nothing came up - can you elaborate on what you are referring to here?

WPJoe

Hi - I have been working on this further and I think I may be missing something important.
I have gone into the menus and played with the brightness and contrast settings, but these are only impacting the brightness of the screen itself - which did not help.
Searching around the forum, I have seen that older RDX and MDX models have had this issue and the solution has been to adjust the brightness/gain of the camera itself.
In past models, this was done by going into reverse and bringing up the camera, and then dialing a "zoom" knob (which the newer model does not have) to adjust the brightness/gain of the camera itself.
This may be the solution to this problem - does anyone know how to do this on the 2019 RDX?
Thanks - this is a really troublesome problem and I am eager to resolve it!

anoop

I think it may be worth visiting the dealer at night and demonstrating the problem. Rather than just a setting issue, it may be that something is defective in your car. Most of us don't have problems with the camera at night. Many of us have problems with the camera when it's raining. Yours is the first complaint I am seeing about camera performance at night.

Coolguy

Hope I am wrong but looks like your issue is more related to daylight sensitivity (not brightness). Can you try to check other daylight related features and see if it works as expected? e.g. screen brightness, map background etc ?

Coolguy

Follow these steps to make sure your Map Colors are setup properly to use daylight condition .. and then try my previous post to see if it reflects the daylight.

From home screen --> Navigation --> MENU --> Map View --> Map Color Scheme
Change it to Auto

WPJoe

Hi - after going to Acura service I am continuing to have this problem and I wanted to see if anyone else has encountered this and hopefully found a solution.

To restate - at night, my rear camera sometimes works fine, but other times it is so dark that it is useless. I can see nothing using the camera. I have tried the screen settings but its not a screen issue its that the camera somehow doesnt seem to be getting enough light to perceive anything - its just dark and pixely.

Whats strange is that in the same spot on my driveway with the same nighttime lighting (or lack thereof) it sometimes works fine and is illuminated and other times its pitch black. My Subaru Forester in the same spot never has this issue.

Acura Service says the camera is working fine...

Dereileak

Can you upload some pictures of your screen settings and the image you get at night on the screen

WPJoe

Thanks I will try to do that next time it happens. In terms of screen settings, I think there are just two choices, Night and Day right?

WPJoe

Here are two photos at night of how it looks, one regular and one with the enhanced screen brightness.
In my Subaru you can clearly see the driveway, the stones on the side of it, the street, etc.
Thanks for any ideas.

anoop

What you say for the Subaru is how mine works. Suggest you visit the dealer after dark and ask to try a new one and take some pictures of that and share with your SA.

EFR

I used mine at night last night...it was quite lit up.

richardbottiglieri

I have a 2019 RDX Advance, and I have this EXACT problem. What's baffling is that it's intermittent. I have two 2014 MDX vehicles, and this never happened. I usually park in an area of my driveway in between lights, so it's a bit darker over there. This happens most of the time when I'm parked in that spot, but not all the time.

Acura just released a software update today. Hopefully, this is addressed. I'm not sure if there's a service bulletin on it or not, but I will mention it to my dealer when I bring it in for the first service.

WPJoe

Its very frustrating and my issue continues. I think it seems to be linked to very bad camera performance in low light settings. My Subaru has NO issue whatsoever in the same spots and the camera is totally readable, so its weird that this Acura camera struggles so mightily. it is UNUSABLE in these light settings,

JB in AZ

I'm just guessing, but it could be that your back up lights are only working intermittently. Perhaps when you see this dark screen, can you keep the car in reverse, with your foot on the brake, and have someone look to see if the back up lights are actually on? Or some other way to confirm they are working when you see this dark screen.

Madd Dog

I definitely do not have this problem. Yes, it is grainy in the dark, but I can see.

Something is not right.

WPJoe

Hi thanks - I think you (or someone else) proposed this earlier in the thread. I did check that and Im pretty sure the brake lights were working fine, but I will try to check again.
Open to any other suggestions as its a very annoying, bordering on dangerous, issue.

JB in AZ

Not talking about brake lights, rather BACK-UP lights

WPJoe

Hmmm I wonder if I got confused when checking. Good point and I will confirm.
To make sure, these are the normal back up lights on every car you are referring to, not something specific related to the camera when you go into reverse, correct?

JB in AZ

Correct, they are white and the same as any car's back up lights. They will illuminate the area making it easier for the camera to "see" at night.

anoop

If there was a problem with the backup lights, would the car not report the problem? Reporting bad lights is like 15-20 year old technology.

One way to check if the rear lights are working as expected is to back into a parking spot adjacent to a building with glass windows.

I'm far from an expert on this, but from what I'm reading backup cameras use infrared LEDs to illuminate the area in total darkness. I think the camera module may be faulty for the people noticing problems.

WPJoe

Well I checked, with high hopes that at least we had found a cause. No dice. All lights are working. It seems that for some reason, unless there's a reasonable amount of nearby external light like from a street lamp, there's just not enough car generated light for the camera to deliver any picture when in the dark. My block has lamps but none right hear my driveway, and the camera picture is totally black.

Madd Dog

Something else may be going on, since out here in Suburbia, there are no street lights on my block, and I get a usable image, grainy, but useful.

leomio85

Might be dumb, but are you sure your headlights are 'On', or at least on Auto? Your headlights turn on even in 'Off' when it's dark automatically, at least when you put it in Drive, but maybe there will be a disconnect with the infotainment and/or back-up camera? The fact that hitting the moon icon corrects the issue means that the camera itself and the infotainment are capable of performing properly. There's something else that's causing the disconnect.

anoop

Try comparing with a new car at the dealer. It gets dark pretty quick nowadays.

leomio85

My infotainment definitely doesn't stay that dark. I have a long driveway that if there's no moon and dark out and the house lights aren't on, you can't see 10ft in front of you. Even in those conditions, I don't have a problem seeing with the reverse camera ... the reverse lights do a good enough job illuminating the area on camera. There's definitely something wrong with OP's system.

Dereileak

Do you have the display brightness and contrast settings set different then the default stock settings, this can wash out colors and stuff if you over adjusted them

WPJoe

Thanks for all of the interest and attention to sort this out. I have played with all of those settings and nothing helps.