SAFETY ALERT- Rear camera- READ ME

BlancoSilverado · June 2, 2020

On 5/29/2020 at 5:37 AM, Thomcat said:

Good luck with your complaints.

Here's how my '19 RST with the Convenience II package with HD Camera and HD monitors works at night with IOS radio upgraded to IOT/Nav. Nothing wrong with the safety on mine!

At night or with the Sun sensor covered the +/- dash panel buttons will dim the dash and screen, including camera screens to almost total blackout.....this is especially useful with the Nav to reduce glare levels to suit driver preference.......dims in all gears except Reverse. And this is likely a safety feature that GM will never change because it is operating as designed......to override all dash controls and preference under Settings give full brightness when in Reverse so no complaints or excuses that drivers ran over something because the display was turned off under Settings or adjusted too dim.

I live in an area with residential lighting but visit relatives in VA without residential lighting whose developments are pitch black at night. The stock HD camera/monitor setup with lighting using stock halogen bulbs in the Reverse lens and LEDs in the red lenses when backing up under both conditions is bright but with excellent resolution, much improved over my old K2 without the HD monitor/screen. Brighter LEDs in the Reverse lenses make likely the glare situation worse, not better.

Only way to get dimming of the screen while backing up in Reverse is to previously dim the screen with the dash buttons, and while backing stop the vehicle place in Neutral to dim the screen to take a better look and then shift to Reverse to continue backing.

Ok, i have tried dimming the screen while in park to the minimum and then going into reverse. the screen when to full brightness.

i then tried to turn off the screen (in settings) and then switching to reverse, screen goes full bright and reverse camera comes on.

i tried pressing every button on the dash while in reverse to see if i can turn off the camera because i cannot use the mirrors with a bright light in my eyes, you cannot turn it off.

** i also have tried going into reverse and dimming the screen and everything will dim BUT the screen will stay at full brightness.**

I do not have the premium package and that might be the cause of the issue itself.

Edited June 2, 2020 by BlancoSilverado
** added more info**

Dersch · June 2, 2020

21 minutes ago, BlancoSilverado said:

Ok, i have tried dimming the screen while in park to the minimum and then going into reverse. the screen when to full brightness.

i then tried to turn off the screen (in settings) and then switching to reverse, screen goes full bright and reverse camera comes on.

i tried pressing every button on the dash while in reverse to see if i can turn off the camera because i cannot use the mirrors with a bright light in my eyes, you cannot turn it off.

I do not have the premium package and that might be the cause of the issue itself.

This is exactly the issue i am having! follow my post as im trying to either find a fix from GM or get them to buy my truck back.

But i do not have the premium package or HD camera but i shouldnt need it to safely operate my truck

Dersch · June 2, 2020

6/2 UPDATE

Well im not gonna lie im surprised. but then again not surprised.

The dealership called me today and told me that my trucks ready to be picked up... They said they compared the truck to another truck in low light/ dark conditions and found it to be operating within normal limits and could not duplicate my complaint. Internally im like are yall blind or what? Cause its obnoxiously and blindingly bright. So picked my truck up. now that the other trucks camera (wish i took a pic) is fresh in my memory imma try mine out tonight. Oh they also said the quality was fine even though my first disposable camera in the 90s had a better picture than this screen does.

At this point im kind of at a loss. Super unhappy. I reached out to my GM rep and she has not gotten back to me yet. Hopefully tomorrow.

Jav_eee · June 2, 2020

Just found the window sticker in the truck
Its an LT with the 5.3L and the 8 speed and the standard camera.

My truck has the 5.3l with the 10 speed. Would it make that much of a difference? Like a real noticable difference? I don't need a race car truck by any means it just was surprising the difference in acceleration

I keep telling people my work truck (5.3/8) feels snappier off the line than my 6.2/10. They don’t believe me.

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Dersch · June 3, 2020

UPDATE 6/3

gonna try to be calm during this post but i am not happy.

So picked my truck up yesterday. Last night i went out to compare my camera to the other loaner i had. SO weirdly enough the screen did not get as bright when i put it into reverse. dont get me wrong it was still bright and blinded me still. But it was noticeably less bright than when i dropped it off. SO either the tech did something without telling me OR its absolutely ironic. anyways the screen still could be less bright. Is it usable? sure. IS it safe? no its not.

Reached out to my GM support person and let me tell you WTF. She went on about well the service department said everything was operating normal on the camera. Shes like so this camera doesnt have night vision so its going to be pixelated at night time and poor quality. Shes like this is how its supposed to operate. I was like okay... what about the brightness issue. She said since the dealer didnt note anything about it being bright or changing that it operates within normal conditions. I said okay so the loaner i had was doing the same thing, still bright (probably a little less than mine) but still a safety issue. She said will if that one did it too thats the normal operation then. She said idk if there is an adjustment or not but you have to figure that out yourself in the settings (i told her ive already looked and there isnt).

I told her how unhappy and unsatisfied i was she said "okay well ill document that"

I asked about a buy back or what my options are. shes like well you have no options from us. GM has done what we can do. Sorry. Then she said well no you are not eligible for a buyback because there are no issues with your truck.

Im like there is a clear safety issue with my reverse camera and i have no options?!?!?!? I dont even know what to do at this point. I reached out to my buddies brother in law who owns a dealership to see what he recommends but idk. I mean i believe i have a case lemon law wise per the state of indiana. "While the Indiana Lemon Law requires a consumer to provide a vehicle manufacturer with a total of four (4) attempts or thirty (30) days to repair a defect or non-conformity that substantially impairs the use, value, or safety of the vehicle, the repair attempts may occur throughout the lifetime of the vehicle. "

So based on Indiana law for lemons i would need to bring my truck in for service 2 more times (seems silly lol). and then i would be eligible. I need to reach out to one of the lemon law attornies or do some reading i guess.I definitely have a case of safety thats for sure.

19Sierra · June 3, 2020

Have you tried turning on the cargo lamps when backing up at night in an area with no surrounding light? I know what you mean about the image being distorted and bright. I have found that turning the cargo lamps on helps to clear up the image a little bit in areas with no surrounding light.

Dersch · June 3, 2020

15 minutes ago, 19Sierra said:

Have you tried turning on the cargo lamps when backing up at night in an area with no surrounding light? I know what you mean about the image being distorted and bright. I have found that turning the cargo lamps on helps to clear up the image a little bit in areas with no surrounding light.

I have not tried that. i will tho. thanks!

I did add some extrenal pod LED reverse lights (through trailer harness plug so not part of the truck) that do help a little but not great still. like the overall issue is the lack of night vision/ pixelation with increased screen brightness

shanemoon · November 6, 2020

Have you had any further progress on this issue?

I have the same sentiment. I cannot understand why the backup camera goes to full brightness at night. Like the normal infotainment screen is dimmed, but as soon as I put it into reverse, I can see the screen go to full brightness. And I an unable to see anything outside of my side mirrors.

I don't so much mind the quality of the camera. But the brightness is an issue to me.

19Sierra · November 7, 2020

4 hours ago, shanemoon said:

Have you had any further progress on this issue?

I have the same sentiment. I cannot understand why the backup camera goes to full brightness at night. Like the normal infotainment screen is dimmed, but as soon as I put it into reverse, I can see the screen go to full brightness. And I an unable to see anything outside of my side mirrors.

I don't so much mind the quality of the camera. But the brightness is an issue to me.

Yes, I posted in this thread about the service bulletin and how it fixed mine before and after pictures are in there as well. https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/221210-rear-camera-too-bright/page/3/#comments

Jav_eee · November 7, 2020

I don’t understand why they can’t push this fix to everyone via the over-the-air updates that the infotainment supposedly can get. Hate having to take it in for the day for this...

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