Back up camera quality

New to the forum and have a question for owners of 2021 Tacomas. What do you think of the quality of your backup camera? I had a 2015 Tacoma and never has a problem...the backup camera image was clear and was never an issue. Got a new 2021 Limited and the quality of the backup camera image is awful! Brought it in for service and they had me check another 2021 to compare. It was pretty bad too, but mine was definitely worse. The tech agreed with me, but the service manager did not. I ramped it up to a case with Toyota National and they just issued their decision: Sorry...SOL. Posting a couple of pictures here...one taken of my backup camera with a gas can behind the truck. The other is a photo of my the backup camera in our 2014 Toyota Venza of the same gas can at the same distance behind the vehicle. Am I crazy, or is the image from the Tacoma back up camera image unacceptable? If others are having this same issue, these cameras should be recalled and replaced.

 

I see the gas can in both pictures. What am I missing?

That said, it’s likely the display resolution to screen size ratio. The camera is probably the same resolution but fed to a larger screen. Also maybe turn off the fish eye.

 

I agree. My 2021 backup camera image is awful compared my my 2014. I'm not sure if it because they use a more fish eye view now or what but definitely not the same quality of image.

 

I just use my neck

 

My 2021 camera is hands down far better than the one I had on the 2019

 

the images posted were 'after' the dealer attempted to repair/adjust. Where is the setting to eliminate the fish-eye/wide angle appearance? Tried finding a setting to eliminate that, but couldn't.

 

I don't need a backup camera in 4K.

As long as I can tell what's behind me, I'm satisfied.

 

my 2019 camera is definitely worse than my 2016 camera.
2016 was crystal clear.
2019 looks like a vhs on a tube TV.
I've gotten used to it by now.
I get it though. Toyota has a hard time selling these trucks and are probably hurting on the back end. Had to downgrade the camera to make up some pennies.

 

From the pictures I've seen here in the forum it sounds like the resolution is worse but you have a fancy 360 birds-eye view.

I have a 2018 and the backup camera is relatively clear but not nearly as clear as the front $40 aftermarket camera.

 

If you're expecting 1080P or HD quality using a wide-angle mini cam, good luck.
My $150 trailer cam (aftermarket) set-up on my '06 displayed a better image on a little 3" screen. BUT it was not wide-angle and was primarily made to make trailer hook-up much easier. It served that purpose quite well. However, it did not fare well in our New England climate and stopped providing the guide lines.
The back-up cam on my '21 TRD OR AC will work for that purpose AND serves well as a back-up cam. Does it display a high-res image? Nope. But then I'm not expecting the same quality image as my 55" LED TV. Could it be better? Probably. But does it really matter? Not to me.

 

The touchscreen button below the image on the left..

 

Problem should be solved with that

 

Will give it a shot, thanks for the replies!

 

I have the EXACT same situation! Had a 2015 Tacoma with an excellent backup camera got the new 2021 Tacoma Limited and I couldn’t believe the bad quality. Pushing the buttons for the different views doesn’t help at all. I have been back to the dealer twice to complain. The first time the lead mechanic compared it to other 2021s and said they are all the same. The 3rd generation Tacomas do have a different camera than the older 2015s had. The second time the service manager looked at it, he agreed it is very poor quality. They brought around a new 2021 Tacoma, but not the Limited Edition and that camera was slightly better. The service manager is going to replace ours and I will let you know if there is any improvement.

We also have a Prius and the backup camera is excellent in that. I have to back up into (or out of) our yard and this is a HUGE safety issue for me. No matter how many times I turn and look there always a chance one of our dogs or even a grandchild might walk behind me while I am backing up. I will continue to pursue this with Toyota. I have to have three complaints on file to upgrade the complaint to the state of California resolution process.

 

Hahahahahaahaa. There is nothing to resolve through the state of California, the camera and truck are performing as designed. It's a camera that is designed to make life a little easier with which you can easily see what is going on behind the truck. Maybe you can't count the freckles on a grandkid's face but you can tell there is a grandkid behind the truck without a problem. I agree that there are far better cameras on other makes/models but this one still gets the job done fine.

 

Whiners world post

 

My 2019 SR has a much better picture than his screen shot, I can see why he made the post. Hopefully taking it off fisheyevview helped somewhat though camera looks cloudy.
But Fan boys gonna hate on any issue someone brings up that’s TW lol

 

Wait until it is covered in road salt. You will be mad. Warm dry state problems.

 

I've noticed that the one in my 2018 4Runner is sharper vs. my 2019 Tacoma, but then the screen is smaller in the 4Runner.

If it was possible to simply unhook and hook in a new and improved camera, an industrious vendor could sell a lot of them!

 

The quality is definitely lower in your truck than your wife's car, but that could very possibly be due to a lower pixel resolution screen rather than the camera itself, but you'd have to get a hold of the screen specs and the rear camera specs on both cars to start to figure out where the issue is. Your truck's camera IS slightly wider angle of view than your wife's but not enough to make a huge difference in perceived resolution. My '18 Taco is not nearly as sharp as my wife's '20 Forester but they both do the job. I added a front camera to mine and even though it's a higher resolution front camera the appearance of both front and rear is the same, leading me to believe that the screen in the head unit has a lot to do with what you see. My guess is that in order to get much better performance you're going to have to upgrade both the head unit and the rear camera. I doubt Toyota is going to do anything for you as long as the camera is still working.