Wolfbox rear camera too dark

[HereinDaRockies]

Just installed the g900 tripro.

I am extremely underwhelmed by the rear camera.

In broad day light, the rear image is significantly darker than the front camera. It’s dark enough to make it a safety issue. On a sunny day, the view out the windshield overpowers the dark image from the wolfbox’s rear camera

It doesn’t help that Wolfbox doesn’t allow you to adjust expose compensation for the rear camera.

I am surprised by the lack of more people calling this out. I would not have gotten it, if I had known about this tremendous drop in usability with the rear camera. Makes me wonder - Something wrong with the unit I have?

@WolfBox will you guys be allowing exposure comp on the rear camera? Doesn’t make sense for that feature to be limited to the front camera

Photos below taken in manual camera mode. So there is no auto exp compensation from my camera.

See the image of the wolfbox comparing against the infotainment screen, to give you a reference.

A photo of the front camera is also attached to showcase it’s not a display issue. Purely a camera issue

 

[landmannnn]

I've not got that exact model, but mine is fine.
You've not left the protecting screen on the camera lens?

 

[Lars]

I have the exact same issue and criticism. Try wearing sunglasses...you cannot see a thing. I was told by one installer that's the way these cameras work when they face the Sun. Still better than stock mirror but not ideal. I've considered buying anonther system, but i'm afraid it will be the same.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

I have the exact same issue and criticism. Try wearing sunglasses...you cannot see a thing. I was told by one installer that's the way these cameras work when they face the Sun. Still better than stock mirror but not ideal. I've considered buying anonther system, but i'm afraid it will be the same.

Our Subaru with OEM digital rear mirror is excellent. The image is so pretty sometimes I glance at it too much, when there is a nice view towards the back of the car.

This Wolfbox rear camera is blue-ish and dark. I need to stare at it for 0.5sec - 1 sec to make out the content of the image. It’s terrible.

@WolfBox this can be trivially resolved by enabling exposure compensation on the rear camera…

 

[Zenbox]

As long as we are being critical, I think the Wolfbox camera could be much better at night as well. It is still better than the stock camera, but there is room for improvement.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

As long as we are being critical, I think the Wolfbox camera could be much better at night as well. It is still better than the stock camera, but there is room for improvement.

Do you have examples of modern digital rear mirror that works materially better at night? I would say our Subaru’s oem camera is slightly better at night. But Night n Day better during daylight.

 

[WolfBox]

Thanks for your feedback. I'll send this to our engineering team. Maybe they'll make some improvement in the future firmware update.

 

[Clark Kent]

Our Subaru with OEM digital rear mirror is excellent. The image is so pretty sometimes I glance at it too much, when there is a nice view towards the back of the car.

This Wolfbox rear camera is blue-ish and dark. I need to stare at it for 0.5sec - 1 sec to make out the content of the image. It’s terrible.

@WolfBox this can be trivially resolved by enabling exposure compensation on the rear camera…

Looping back to @landmannnn's point: Have you removed the protective film from the rear camera lens?

 

[HereinDaRockies]

Looping back to @landmannnn's point: Have you removed the protective film from the rear camera lens?

View attachment 7914714

Yes.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

Thanks for your feedback. I'll send this to our engineering team. Maybe they'll make some improvement in the future firmware update.

Thank you.

Another thing I realized after another day of usage -

The image from the sensor is currently high contrast. This also contributes to the dark issue. If the contrast is reduced, it will allow t objects in the shadow to be more visible.

 

[hardloaf]

I also have similar complaints about image quality of G900. Display is not bright enough for sunny days and this is a hardware problem - it is what it is. They sell inexpensive matt film - I'd suggest to add it. It helps a lot with glare and makes image look more acceptable. Inability to adjust color temperature of the image is another missing software feature which stresses out human vision - it's so cold (bluish), that it always mismatches outside world and looks very amateurish for a big vendor. Compared to OEM 8+ years old GM rear camera mirror this one is very underwhelming.
Fixing color temperature is the primary problem for me now. Night time performance is another - if camera mounted behind glass its tint consumes a lot of light and makes image extremely noisy in low light situations. This also can be addressed in software to some extent. Even switch to lower res BW image would be better than what it shows now.

Good thing about Wolfbox is that they are listening. They issued a new firmware update recently and it actually addressed some exact usability issues I complained about few weeks ago. I was impressed with speed, can't deny that. So they are trying.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

I am very surprised everyone has such glowing review of the WolfBox. It’s very subpar IMO. Worst accessory I have spent so far on the grenadier.

putting this sentiment out here to balance the Wolfbox hype a bit on this forum, in case it helps someone to consider this accessory.

 

[Chadd7]

I'm happy with mine. No complaints here.

 

[Jeremy996]

I'm happy with mine - it does what it said on the tin. It wasn't too much of a bear to install either. I will get the custom mount sometime as I'm not crazy about strapping it to the mirror, but it is far from a deal-breaker.

 

[Clark Kent]

I am very surprised everyone has such glowing review of the WolfBox. It’s very subpar IMO. Worst accessory I have spent so far on the grenadier.

putting this sentiment out here to balance the Wolfbox hype a bit on this forum, in case it helps someone to consider this accessory.

Of course there is the possibility that you have a faulty unit and everyone else is happy because their unit is ok. Have you had an opportunity to compare side by side with another installation?

I have the original G900 which preceded the Pro and TriPro. It has an older rear camera sensor and is still plenty bright through the rear door glass during the day. I mounted the rear camera so the lens is resting against the glass to stop reflections. My only complaint is the noisy night image from the rear camera which Wolfbox improved in the Pro and TriPro with an upgraded Sony Starvis sensor.

This is consumer grade tech so there will be faults and failures. I have assisted others with troubleshooting and I have to say Wolfbox support has been excellent every time, even shipping a complete replacement kit to a customer so they could substitute different items to help locate a fault. You should raise a support ticket via email if you think your unit might be faulty.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

I'm happy with mine - it does what it said on the tin. It wasn't too much of a bear to install either. I will get the custom mount sometime as I'm not crazy about strapping it to the mirror, but it is far from a deal-breaker.

Maybe I will get used to it. Initial impression was the dark rear view image represented tremendous regression from the friction-less stock rear view mirror used strategically with my side mirrors.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

Of course there is the possibility that you have a faulty unit and everyone else is happy because their unit is ok. Have you had an opportunity to compare side by side with another installation?

I have the original G900 which preceded the Pro and TriPro. It has an older rear camera sensor and is still plenty bright through the rear door glass during the day. I mounted the rear camera so the lens is resting against the glass to stop reflections. My only complaint is the noisy night image from the rear camera which Wolfbox improved in the Pro and TriPro with an upgraded Sony Starvis sensor.

This is consumer grade tech so there will be faults and failures. I have assisted others with troubleshooting and I have to say Wolfbox support has been excellent every time, even shipping a complete replacement kit to a customer so they could substitute different items to help locate a fault. You should raise a support ticket via email if you think your unit might be faulty.

A way to tell - is your rear view significantly darker than the front view, while viewing via the mirror?

Yes we know the rear cam looks through tinted glass, but I expect the camera exposure to compensate and achieve relatively similar luminosity as the front camera.

I have no issue with the front camera’s image quality, when displayed via the mirror

 

[Clark Kent]

A way to tell - is your rear view significantly darker than the front view, while viewing via the mirror?

Yes we know the rear cam looks through tinted glass, but I expect the camera exposure to compensate and achieve relatively similar luminosity as the front camera.

I have no issue with the front camera’s image quality, when displayed via the mirror

On my unit the rear is slightly brighter than the front but I have adjusted the brightness to compensate for the tinted glass. In the installation guides Wolfbox recommend the rear camera is installed outside the vehicle near the licence plate but it can be installed inside.

The rear sensor is a different part to the front sensor so they're unlikely to have the same performance. The front sensor has automatic exposure control but I don't think the rear sensor has. I haven't read the full specs for the Pro or Tripro.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

Ahh I don’t have the rear mounted outisde. It’s mounted inside like many people here

Wolfbox should embrace this common use case + the common situation of tinted rear glass, to produce software that allow user to compensate for the reduced light

Through exp comp on the front camera, I can adjust it to a highly satisfactory level of luminosity, even during bright day light. Rear can achieve the same, if Wolfbox develops the firmware to adjust

 

[Happyoldgit]

I have tinted rear glass and have installed the camera on the inside, the image and recordings presented are perfectly acceptable. The nighttime images are quite noisy.