What you're describing is the perspective distortion of a wide angle lens. The extreme version of which is a fisheye lens, which was popular in advertising for a while back in the late 60s early 70s: And it's why the trick to leave the rear view camera on while driving can be risky. It's easy to misjudge where the cars around you are. You might think you have lots of room to change lanes, when in reality you'll cut someone off.

 

[QUOTE=Bird67;1605170870]I am rarely disappointed by C8 owners in the depths to which we will go in our quest to find things to bitch about in our cars.

FWIW, my camera's picture is beautiful.

@Corvette03051
@Bird67 Maybe it’s my eyes and you can look at my camera sometime and show me yours. Could my expectations be too high or maybe my eyes 👀 are just not able to focus well.

 

[QUOTE=Corvette03051;1605175344]I believe that if you took the image the mirror produces out of the car and put it to use elsewhere, there would be no concerns over the image quality. The challenge arises from context. It's like when you get a new prescription in your glasses...at first it's hard to see until your brain adjusts. The C8 rear mirror camera, like your new prescription in your glasses, are ok, it's your brain that has to adjust. And from what I have read, for some people tha's just not possible....

 

That is why, in post 3, I asked you why you were interested in an "upgraded mirror". The "focus' problem is not likely to be fixable with current technology. When you move your gaze from the road to the mirror, your brain is trained to expect the image in the mirror to be a distant image, the lenses in your eyes will be adjusted for distant viewing, and if you have bifocals or progressive lens glasses, you head will tilt so that you look through the distance part of those lenses as well. The good news is that most report being able to adjust to it - by learning to refocus and adjust head tilt if they have bifocal or progressive lens glasses. There is also a double image effect that some see - I never have. But above (Jerry U I think) is an explanation of how to adjust the mirror to eliminate that effect (I suppose an upgrade could reduce that, because it comes from seeing both the reflected distant image and the camera image at the same time). I agree with others, the image itself is actually very high quality.

 

[QUOTE=Andybump;1605175517]That is why, in post 3, I asked you why you were interested in an "upgraded mirror". The "focus' problem is not likely to be fixable with current technology. When you move your gaze from the road to the mirror, your brain is trained to expect the image in the mirror to be a distant image, the lenses in your eyes will be adjusted for distant viewing, and if you have bifocals or progressive lens glasses, you head will tilt so that you look through the distance part of those lenses as well. The good news is that most report being able to adjust to it - by learning to refocus and adjust head tilt if they have bifocal or progressive lens glasses. There is also a double image effect that some see - I never have. But above (Jerry U I think) is an explanation of how to adjust the mirror to eliminate that effect (I suppose an upgrade could reduce that, because it comes from seeing both the reflected distant image and the camera image at the same time). I agree with others, the image itself is actually very high quality.

I’ve tried all positions and angles. With snd without glasses. No help for me oh well if you guys see clearly than it must be only some of us. questions: why doesn’t that happen with our rear view cameras? Is it a different type lense and why can’t it work as a mirror camera is it because it’s wide angle? Now I’m curious

 

[QUOTE=Corvette03051;1605175649]Maybe there really is an issue with your's then. As for the back up camera, it doesn't happen there because when you look at it 1) your not expecting it to be a distant image and 2) if you have bifocals or progressive lenses in your glasses, you are looking down through the reading part of the lens.

 

[QUOTE=Andybump;1605175675][QUOTE=Corvette03051;1605175649]
Maybe there really is an issue with your's then. As for the back up camera, it doesn't happen there because when you look at it 1) your not expecting it to be a distant image and 2) if you have bifocals or progressive lenses in your glasses, you are looking down through the reading part of the lens

I don’t wear bifocals and only have glasses for reading after cataract surgery. Could be my eyes but then why do some others have a problem as well? I’m gonna drive by MM and ask them to look at the mirror camera. Thanks for the input to all.

 

Do you wear bifocals or progressive lenses? If so, understand that unlike a normal mirror, the screen is using your near vision. If you're looking at the screen through the top half of your glasses, it is going to be out of focus. Try looking through the bottom part of your glasses (if bifocals or progressives).

If you need a prescription for near vision (e.g, reading glasses), taking off your glasses isn't going to help either.

 

The “focus” problem has nothing to do with the camera or its resolution and everything to do with how your brain “processes” the image.

When on camera, the focal length is the distance from your eye to the surface of the mirror, just as it is when sitting and looking at your computer monitor. In other words close.

When on standard mirror, the focal length is the distance from your eye to the mirror + the distance to the object you are looking at. In other words distant.

The brain and the eyes must make this distinction and it isn’t automatic, though it has seemed to improve dramatically for me with practice.

People with significant myopia requiring bifocals or progressive lenses will have to adjust more to this with a slightly different head tilt when changing from one to the other.

 

[QUOTE=Corvette03051;1605175849][QUOTE=Andybump;1605175675]I did not say it only happens with bifocals or progressive lenses. I said, if you have them, then you have the additional problem of tilting your head, in addition to focussing with your eyes, when looking at the rear view mirror. For the back up camera, you eyes already focus for the near field view (regardless of whether or not you have bifocals). So it is in focus. And if (thats if) you have bifocals, then when you look down, you are looking through the near field lens. The opposite happens with the mirror camera. You are trained (we all are) to focus for distance when looking in the rear view mirror. So even without bifocals you can have the issue. But if you have them, you are also trained (as we all are) to look through the upper or distance part of the eyeglass lens, making it even worse. In any case, if you maybe there really is an issue with you camera image.

 

I should have picked up on this as well. The rear view mirror/screen is close enough that you may actually require your reading glasses to focus on it. People with bifocal or progressive lenses also need to learn to tilt their head so that they are viewing the mirror though the "reading" part of the lens (if they have bifocals).

 

My impression of my “22 HTC mirror.


Top Up camera view:

Because of the higher location of the camera the field of view is much wider than any mirror I have ever had especially in the wide-angle setting. Must remember that “objects are closer than they appear”. In the narrower settings the horizontal FOV seems similar to the mirror but there is still much better visibility down low than with the mirror because of the “hump” in the tonneau cover.

Top Up mirror view:

FOV mildly to moderately limited by nacelles and tonneau cover.

Top Down mirror only:

Identical to top up mirror.


The brain and eyes are a remarkable combo and will adjust to these changes given time.

 

My 2 cents worth I am not sure I like the rear view camera mirror ---- yet. It seems as if the sides move faster than the center and gives me a nausea.

Hopefully it will get better with time.

 

[QUOTE=RIrvine;1605178094]My 2 cents worth I am not sure I like the rear view camera mirror ---- yet. It seems as if the sides move faster than the center and gives me a nausea.

Hopefully it will get better with time.
just came in from my first after dark drive and it was horrible imo just didn’t work for me. Shut it down and used my side mirrors and rear window. Much better and it instilled the confidence I was lacking trying to make the system work.

 

[QUOTE=Corvette03051;1605179585]Keep trying with it!
The brain needs time to adjust to the changing focal length. Your brain expects to focus in the distance after years or decades of driving with a standard mirror.
Try sitting or driving for short periods of time and focus on the edge of the mirror first and not directly on the following car. Then let your eye drift over to the image.

 

[QUOTE=bgad;1605179724]Thanks good advice and truthfully I have been grateful for all the advice. I’ll try and meanwhile I have an appt at MM to check the mirror. If it’s good than I’ll just suck it up and make it happen. Nice to have MM 3 miles from my front door.!

 

[QUOTE=Corvette03051;1605180583]If it turns out that the dealer says your mirror screen is fine, then try this. I believe you said you required reading glasses. The mirror is pretty close to your face, and so I think its similar to up close reading. Just sit in the driveway, not moving, and with your reading glasses on, look at the camera image in the mirror - see if it is in focus. If so, then the mirror is not the issue. Remove your readers, and see if you can focus in the mirror, while just sitting in the driveway. If you can, it will be possible for you to eventually use it, I think. If not, then the solution will be more involved. You can live with the it. Or , you can get either bifocals or (I prefer) progressive lenses that give me instant access to the reading part of the lens - and I have learned to tilt my head as needed to use the mirror. Progressive lens glasses can introduce some distortion that also requires some getting used to. So... my solution is even more complex, very likely not necessary in your case, and I have no idea if it even works after cataract surgery. I wear a multifocal contact in the left eye, and a strong reading contact in my right eye. This allow me to function without glasses in most situations. But, for driving, I wear progressive lens over the contacts. Because of the contacts, the "correction" required of the glasses is much less, and therefore the lenses in the glasses are much thinner. Which in turn means that there is very little distortion due to the progressive lenses. If all you require is readers, then you might find it very easy to use progressive lenses for driving - the top of your lens would just be a plano, the bottom would be a correction for reading.

 

[QUOTE=Corvette03051;1605180583]
Have patience! You are not unique.

I am 70; was in progressives for years; Have had my cataracts removed and Multifocal IOLs within the last year.
I had some initial difficulty but got over it quickly.

If you can read your dash and the infotainment screen, then you can focus close enough for the mirror without additional glasses, etc.

Vision is highly dependent upon the brain to interpret the images while the eye performs primarily as a camera.
The brain is needed to tell the eye where to focus. It does all of this more or less automatically, but it relies on prior learning to aid it in doing the job.
For all of your prior life, the brain has told the eye to focus on the car far away in your mirror. Now it doesn’t understand why that “car” is suddenly 18” from your eye.
It WILL relearn the process!

 

One more quirk that you should be aware of is that LED lights on cars flicker and that is normal.
Apparently LEDs must not be continuous but actually consist of very rapid flashes that we normally can’t see.
The frame rate of the camera must be such that it creates a strobe effect and you can see them flickering.

 

The strobe effect is "normal" but its very distracting. And, I think, fixable with some additional image processing. I agree it has something to do with the camera frame rate relative to the LED flicker rate. But image processing might be able to detect those flashes, distinguish the from actual flashing lights, and the correct them. I have the effect on my 2021, and its been reported on the 2020s. Anyone with a 2022 seeing that strobe effect with led headlights in the mirror?