Back-up camera
#16
08-17-2016, 10:07 AM
I used their chat to ask that question. I also asked if you could use a 12V to USB to charge the battery when you had your lights on if you connected it up to the license plate light and they said it wasn't designed to do that, you have to take it off the car and plug it into something like your computer. I'm retired, so mine is in the garage unless I'm using it, so this was important to me. ChuckJ
#17
10-11-2016, 03:59 PM
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Dallas
Posts: 2,806
Rep Power: 174 
The Pearl backup camera is in and installed. This is clearly a quality product, beginning with the packaging. The camera works on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (secondary). Installation is straightforward and takes less than 1/2 hour including reading the directions. It contains a USB cord to charge the battery as a backup to the solar charger. Now the testing begins. The app loads and shows the camera 4-5 seconds after turning it on and the quality of the picture is excellent in daylight. It uses sensors to see objects nearing from the sides and back and I'll be testing the night operation and that over the next couple of days, but so far I am very pleased.
ChuckJ
ChuckJ
Last edited by ChuckJ; 10-11-2016 at 04:01 PM.
#18
10-11-2016, 07:48 PM
The Pearl backup camera is in and installed. This is clearly a quality product, beginning with the packaging. The camera works on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (secondary). Installation is straightforward and takes less than 1/2 hour including reading the directions. It contains a USB cord to charge the battery as a backup to the solar charger. Now the testing begins. The app loads and shows the camera 4-5 seconds after turning it on and the quality of the picture is excellent in daylight. It uses sensors to see objects nearing from the sides and back and I'll be testing the night operation and that over the next couple of days, but so far I am very pleased.
ChuckJ
ChuckJ
#20
10-15-2016, 04:06 PM
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Dallas
Posts: 2,806
Rep Power: 174
Installation:
When the backup camera arrived, I initially plugged the car adapter into the OBD II port and left the fuse cover off. Tomcatz suggested I get a flat wire cable and I did, but I didn't notice the part that plugs into the port had another port coming out the other side which made it too large to put the cover back on. I ordered another cable without that, but it still extends up a bit to extract the wire. Since this cable had a side mounted wire, I cut the extra port off the top as shown in the picture. I'll try the other cable when it comes in but it is coming from overseas so it may take a while.
Fortunately, the pins were submerged in rubber so they cut clean and I sealed them with silicone. The OBD plug fits and the cover can be replaced as normal. I ran the wire to the top of the panel and secured the new OBD connector out the top. You can see it with the car adapter attached. The one issue was because of this particular flat wire plug I had to trim part of the fuse cover bracket on the bottom right as it interfered with the wire (see picture).
The camera performed as designed using its own Wi-Fi which takes about 4-5 seconds to load. When I turn the car and app on as I get into the car it is usually ready by the time I want to back. If the phone has been turned off, activation takes about double that time.
Initial impressions
Pros
Excellent day and night picture quality
Easy installation with excellent installation instructions
Great warranty- 3 year with 30 day no questions trial period
Wide field of view (top picture) and field of regard (bottom picture)
Electronically adjustable in elevation and azimuth
Sound and visual alarm notification for both backing into an object and vehicles / walkers approaching from the side using the camera’s image movement technology in the FOV
Battery strength indicator in app
Lower cost than hard wire retrofit
Excellent theft protection- unique “key”, frame will only work with integrated OBD car adaptor and the frame is warranted if stolen
Wide and super wide views on top and bottom of the screen in portrait mode and field of regard is movable by a tap on the FOR screen. In landscape mode, only the wide view is shown where the FOV is just slightly less than the FOR screen in portrait mode.
Product updates available with software upgrades on the app
Excellent and responsive support
Shortcomings
Alarm could be louder (especially initial warning)
OBD II device if installed directly into the socket sticks out 1” and would require cutting a hole in the OBD cover or adding side mounted extension wire (see pictures)
No detailed operating instruction available (however use is very intuitive)
No backing lines (planned in a downloadable software update by November)
Still left with a much smaller screen than a factory system
The software is stable, but in some parking lots with stores that have WiFi there have been a couple times the picture flickered
Deficiencies
None noted yet
Clearly, this is not as good as a factory unit (or hard-wire product integrated into the dash), primarily due to the screen size and non-instant-on operation. It is, however, very satisfactory (especially having side and back object sensing) and it was significantly less expensive than a factory system. I keep my car in the garage and do not drive it daily so it will be interesting to see if the battery stays charged. Fortunately charging it manually is quite easy. The graphic shows 175 degrees FOR, and it is quite wide but that may be slightly less depending on how it is mounted.
ChuckJ
When the backup camera arrived, I initially plugged the car adapter into the OBD II port and left the fuse cover off. Tomcatz suggested I get a flat wire cable and I did, but I didn't notice the part that plugs into the port had another port coming out the other side which made it too large to put the cover back on. I ordered another cable without that, but it still extends up a bit to extract the wire. Since this cable had a side mounted wire, I cut the extra port off the top as shown in the picture. I'll try the other cable when it comes in but it is coming from overseas so it may take a while.
Fortunately, the pins were submerged in rubber so they cut clean and I sealed them with silicone. The OBD plug fits and the cover can be replaced as normal. I ran the wire to the top of the panel and secured the new OBD connector out the top. You can see it with the car adapter attached. The one issue was because of this particular flat wire plug I had to trim part of the fuse cover bracket on the bottom right as it interfered with the wire (see picture).
The camera performed as designed using its own Wi-Fi which takes about 4-5 seconds to load. When I turn the car and app on as I get into the car it is usually ready by the time I want to back. If the phone has been turned off, activation takes about double that time.
Initial impressions
Pros
Excellent day and night picture quality
Easy installation with excellent installation instructions
Great warranty- 3 year with 30 day no questions trial period
Wide field of view (top picture) and field of regard (bottom picture)
Electronically adjustable in elevation and azimuth
Sound and visual alarm notification for both backing into an object and vehicles / walkers approaching from the side using the camera’s image movement technology in the FOV
Battery strength indicator in app
Lower cost than hard wire retrofit
Excellent theft protection- unique “key”, frame will only work with integrated OBD car adaptor and the frame is warranted if stolen
Wide and super wide views on top and bottom of the screen in portrait mode and field of regard is movable by a tap on the FOR screen. In landscape mode, only the wide view is shown where the FOV is just slightly less than the FOR screen in portrait mode.
Product updates available with software upgrades on the app
Excellent and responsive support
Shortcomings
Alarm could be louder (especially initial warning)
OBD II device if installed directly into the socket sticks out 1” and would require cutting a hole in the OBD cover or adding side mounted extension wire (see pictures)
No detailed operating instruction available (however use is very intuitive)
No backing lines (planned in a downloadable software update by November)
Still left with a much smaller screen than a factory system
The software is stable, but in some parking lots with stores that have WiFi there have been a couple times the picture flickered
Deficiencies
None noted yet
Clearly, this is not as good as a factory unit (or hard-wire product integrated into the dash), primarily due to the screen size and non-instant-on operation. It is, however, very satisfactory (especially having side and back object sensing) and it was significantly less expensive than a factory system. I keep my car in the garage and do not drive it daily so it will be interesting to see if the battery stays charged. Fortunately charging it manually is quite easy. The graphic shows 175 degrees FOR, and it is quite wide but that may be slightly less depending on how it is mounted.
ChuckJ
Last edited by ChuckJ; 10-15-2016 at 04:18 PM.
#23
11-25-2016, 10:25 AM
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Dallas
Posts: 2,806
Rep Power: 174
Well, it's been over a month with the Pearl backup camera and I thought I would provide an update. They have added interactive lines which are kind of incredible. They are active and the distance alerts are responsive to the shortest one as shown in the picture. Accuracy for the alerts appear to be precise, meeting the spec of the picture depicted in an earlier post. The red around the picture is the second alert meaning you are 2 feet from the object which in my case was a hose.
There is an auto start now that automatically starts the program as you place your phone on the holder. Start-up is 3-5 seconds so you can hardly get your seatbelt on before it's displaying a picture. It requires using their mount and adding a thin metal plate to the back of your phone or case. I don't regularly use it as I like my Pro-clip holder on the console.
Because I'm retired, my car doesn't sit outside all day and I thought that would be a problem with battery life. It lasted a little over a month and was very easy and quick to charge. I'll probably remove the frame and plug it in to recharge the battery when I wash the car. Removal takes under 5 seconds and leaves the license plate in place.
The quality of the daytime picture is better than my other car (a 2017 model which has the upgraded backup camera version), but the night time picture is not as good and get's washed out a little with the red brake lights. Still, it's better than my son's Honda CRV stock one.
BTW, they sent me an email that it $100 of for black Friday (not exclusive for prior customers, link posted below) until November 29.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Chuck
https://pearlauto.com/?utm_campaign=...m_source=email
There is an auto start now that automatically starts the program as you place your phone on the holder. Start-up is 3-5 seconds so you can hardly get your seatbelt on before it's displaying a picture. It requires using their mount and adding a thin metal plate to the back of your phone or case. I don't regularly use it as I like my Pro-clip holder on the console.
Because I'm retired, my car doesn't sit outside all day and I thought that would be a problem with battery life. It lasted a little over a month and was very easy and quick to charge. I'll probably remove the frame and plug it in to recharge the battery when I wash the car. Removal takes under 5 seconds and leaves the license plate in place.
The quality of the daytime picture is better than my other car (a 2017 model which has the upgraded backup camera version), but the night time picture is not as good and get's washed out a little with the red brake lights. Still, it's better than my son's Honda CRV stock one.
BTW, they sent me an email that it $100 of for black Friday (not exclusive for prior customers, link posted below) until November 29.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Chuck
https://pearlauto.com/?utm_campaign=...m_source=email
Last edited by ChuckJ; 11-25-2016 at 10:33 AM.
#26
11-25-2016, 10:15 PM
Well I ordered one! I miss having the backup sensors on my previous 991.1S and wouldn't mind the safety of a backup camera without the hassle of getting one hardwired. So I figured I would give it a shot...
Last edited by Hurricane; 11-25-2016 at 10:36 PM.
#27
11-26-2016, 05:48 AM
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Dallas
Posts: 2,806
Rep Power: 174 ChuckJ
#28
11-26-2016, 08:36 AM
Don't forget the flat wire OBD II to OBD II connector. If you get it online, sometimes it takes considerable time to arrive. Check where it is being shipped from. Pearl is now advertising in Panorama and I advised them they need to sell the connectors, but I don't know if they have stocked them yet. They are very inexpensive, but if you don't have one the only way it will work is if you have the OBD cover off.
ChuckJ
ChuckJ
#30
11-28-2016, 08:03 PM
Bought one today, thanks chuck for the reviews and the promo heads up.
Question for those of you who have one. Do you have to cut or modify the fuse box / obd. I got the flat wire adaptor from amazon and was hoping I could stuff it somewhere or hang it over the top without cutting.
Question for those of you who have one. Do you have to cut or modify the fuse box / obd. I got the flat wire adaptor from amazon and was hoping I could stuff it somewhere or hang it over the top without cutting.