Rear Video Camera

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2012 Ford Pickup. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

The rear video camera system is active with the ignition in run and the transmission selector in the reverse position. The rear video camera receives commands and sends status to the Body Control Module (BCM) over a dedicated Local Interconnect Network (LIN). For vehicles with navigation, the rear video camera sends a video signal to the Front Display Interface Module (FDIM) on a pair of shielded video circuits, which displays the video image of the area behind the vehicle. For vehicles without navigation, the signal from the rear video camera is sent to the auto-dimming interior mirror display on a pair of shielded video circuits, which displays the video image of the area behind the vehicle.

If the vehicle is equipped with a front video camera, the rear video camera sends the rear video signal to the camera switching module on a pair of shielded video circuits. The Front Display Interface Module (FDIM) receives the signal from the camera switching module, the Front Display Interface Module (FDIM) displays the video image of the area behind the vehicle.

The rear video camera system has 4 video features (only the fixed guidelines are available with the base Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC)). The features are:

Fixed guidelines
Visual park aid alert
Manual zoom
Video camera delay

Vehicles equipped with a base IPC (2 rows, 14 character display), display only fixed guidelines in the auto-dimming interior mirror. The guidelines cannot be disabled.

Vehicles equipped with an optional IPC (4.2 LCD message center) include all the rear video camera system features. The features are enabled and disabled within the message center.

For vehicles with navigation, the rear video camera features are controlled within the FDIM menu screen. For each one of these system features the Audio Front Control Module (ACM) sends a network message requesting the system feature to the BCM via the Medium Speed Controller Area Network (MS-CAN).

The BCM sends the message to the rear video camera over the LIN. The LIN is a dedicated single wire communication line that sends and receives network messages from the BCM to the rear video camera.

The messages sent from the BCM to the rear video camera are:

transmission selector (PRNDL) status
camera configuration data
display manual zoom request
parking aid audible warning status
parking aid sensor distance to object data

The messages sent from the rear video camera to the BCM are:

camera status
display zoom status
camera part number data
visual park aid alert status
fixed guideline status

The rear video system has a delay feature and is available on vehicles with optional Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC) and navigation. For vehicles equipped with navigation, the image is displayed in the FDIM for 5 minutes or until the vehicle reaches 8 km/h (5 mph), when the vehicle is shifted out of reverse, or if any button on the FDIM is pressed. The image is not displayed if the vehicle is shifted into PARK (P). For vehicles without navigation, the image is displayed in the auto-dimming interior mirror and remains on for a few seconds once the vehicle is shifted out of REVERSE (R).

The fixed guidelines feature displays guidelines on top of the video image to assist the driver with alignment of the vehicle. A dashed line on the displayed image represents the center of the vehicle and 3 color-coded lines (red, yellow, green) identify different zones between the rear of the vehicle and objects.

NOTE: The color-coded lines cannot indicate accurate or consistent distances between objects located behind the vehicle and at the rear of the vehicle. This normal condition is due to variances in vehicle ride height, including, but not limited to, vehicle loading.

The visual park aid alert feature utilizes the 4 parking aid sensor inputs from the Parking Aid Module (PAM) and the rear video camera image. When the transmission selector is in REVERSE (R) and an object is detected in the path of the parking aid sensor, a network message of the distance from the parking aid sensor to the object is sent from the PAM to the BCM over the HS-CAN. The BCM networks the parking aid sensor message to the rear video camera over the LIN. The visual alerts are red, yellow or green and appear as highlights on top of the displayed image to indicate in which zone the object is detected. The highlighted visual alerts are still operational if the parking aid system is disabled within the IPC and the visual alert feature is enabled.

The manual zoom feature is controlled by the rear video camera. The manual zoom feature has 3 zoom levels that are only active when the vehicle is in reverse. If the manual zoom feature is enabled and the vehicle is shifted out of reverse the manual zoom feature is disabled. The manual zoom feature must be re-enabled the next time the vehicle is shifted into reverse. For vehicles with navigation, when the FDIM requests the video image to be zoomed in or out, the ACM sends a zoom request network message to the BCM. For vehicles without navigation, when the message center requests the video image to be zoomed in or out, the IPC sends a zoom request network message to the BCM. The BCM sends the zoom request message to the rear video camera over the LIN. The video image sent by the rear video camera is then digitally zoomed in or out.