I recently uploaded a video where I shared the installation of the HD rear-view camera from Falcon Technology on our caravan. I mentioned in that video that I would follow up with a user/ owner review of the product which will help you decide if this is for you. So, In this article I share an overview, how easy it is to use, then I’ve listed some pros and cons and finally I give my final opinion, however if you want to see the installation, follow the video below :
I’ve travelled about 750 miles or so with it on the back of the caravan now, and my thoughts and feedback are based upon my experience with it so far. So, let’s get into the product itself.
Overview
There are two main components to this install, The monitor in the car and the camera on the caravan. The camera is mounted at the rear of the caravan, up high to give me a good view rearward of the outfit. It has a 120 degree viewing angle, a resolution of 1080p, has Infra-Red lighting for low light or night scenarios and the housing is waterproofed against our Great British summer weather. 
In the car, the monitor clips onto the rear-view mirror and is powered via a USB lead. The included USB to 12v adaptor provides all the power we need. The monitor displays a clear image of what the camera is capturing from behind, although the display is a cropped 720p resolution.
Usage
In my installation, the camera is switched on when the caravan’s electric cable is plugged into the car, after a couple of seconds the camera pairs with the monitor and the system is up and running.
The camera has been very useful on the motorway and for when I’m turning off onto a side road. Like you would use a rear-view mirror, I find myself checking this camera, the mirrors to check for traffic behind me. Below is a good example, We are travelling on a dual carriageway approaching a slow moving HGV, and I want to pull out to overtake. Behind me is a fast-approaching car in lane 1, that I have not seen in any of my towing mirrors. The only vehicle I can see in my towing mirrors is the red van in lane two.
I’ve found the camera system useful for situations like these, where it provides extra visibility for when needing to overtake or negotiating complex junctions, where vehicles behind me tend to undercut to get into the correct lane. However, It’s not without its faults, so, let’s go through the positives and negatives of this system.
Pro
Camera
As I mentioned earlier the camera is mounted nice and high, It gives a great view of everything directly behind the caravan and also to the sides. A point worth noting here, this system should not be used to replace the towing mirrors. With them, I would have an incredible blind spot to the sides of the caravan, and because my view would be interrupted, it would be breaking the law.
The camera also has a great picture quality to it, its bright, colourful and hi resolution. The marketing states this is a HD camera, with a resolution of 1080p. Another important point is this camera is wireless, and transmits a digital signal back to the monitor.
When the light is low, the camera also has built in Infrared LEDs so it will illuminate the road behind me, I’ve not tried this at night to show you as all our towing is done during daylight hours.
Monitor
In the car and in front of the monitor you can see its clear and bright. It easily clips onto the rear-view mirror already in the car and it doesn’t look too out of place. In the settings you can adjust the left and right mirror flip. Giving a reversed view like you would expect to see in a mirror. This monitor can also support 4 cameras, so adding a new camera to the system, either a camera for the rear of the car or another one at the rear of the caravan is extremely easy. Also, whilst talking about setting up, I found this product easy to get going – it simply powered on and was ready to go out of the box.
Ok, so that’s the positives, let’s look at the negatives.
Con
Camera
There isn’t a lot of bad things to say about the camera, other than its position. Its mounted up high and although it gives a great view rearward, there is quite a large blind spot. This means that this cannot be used as a reversing camera, as I cannot see what’s near the caravan. As a demonstration of this blind spot, I’ve paced out in strides behind the caravan, and I wasn’t visible until 5ft away from the back panel. Also, because it is up high, it’s quite hard to clean and in damp road conditions the spray does cling to the lens.
The biggest issue however is the monitor.
I am acutely aware of low frame rates, especially on monitors or screens that are just beyond the peripheral view of my eyeline. This is exasperated by the surgery and subsequent focal range of my left eye. I’ve been a bit scientific about this and looked back at some footage I recorded when the camera was installed. Because of the frame rate I record my videos, I can count the frames the screen refreshes by watching movement across the screen. I can confirm it runs at 20 frames per second. So, when this screen is placed on the rear-view mirror with a low refresh rate, It is noticeable and quite distracting.
The screen doesn’t dim. There is 1 setting to reduce the brightness, but this would be so much better as an auto dim function. I mentioned that I haven’t used this at night, well with a bright, black and white image at eye line – I think will be quite distracting.
The system has settings that you can access by pressing M. this menu system is in my opinion awful. The navigation is counterintuitive, and that horrendous beep cannot be shut up or reduced in volume. Other short comings are that monitor does not have an SD card input for recording, which I think would be useful especially in this dash cam world of ours, where providing proof of blame is so important.
Not so much an issue, more of a nice to have would be instead of a USB cable, a USB socket on the unit to allow a pre-installed cable, Like those found in dash cam install kits, to plug into the unit, so cables do not dangle.
Finally, the build quality on the monitor I have is poor. Look at this sprue at the rear, and the feet are already falling off. I’ve had to glue these back on after the first use. But all of that could be forgiven for just one oversight.
I drive with polarised sunglasses in bright weather. I have done for most of my adult life. The advantage is they cut through the glare of a windscreen on a sunny day. The disadvantage is when wanting to use a phone or device with a screen is depending on the screen type can render them completely unreadable. Sadly, the polarisation on the display of the rear-view monitor is the wrong way. This means that on bright sunny days, where I’m wearing my prescription sunglasses, I am looking at a completely black screen, even though its switched on. This was very apparent on our recent return trip from Cirencester.
Below is a comparison photo of the screen showing a solid blue display. On the left is a standard photo. On the right, I’ve placed my sunglasses in front of the lens. The camera has tried to compensate as much as it can. Remember the lens is darkened down quite a bit, so the auto exposure has compensated, but you can still see the bright blue is reduced by a significant amount.
Conclusion
With all the positives and negatives, on reflection is the rear-view camera an accessory I would recommend. There are a couple of issues, but these are focused on the monitor and not the camera or installation as a whole.
To overcome the reversing camera issue, is very easy. I can install an extra camera above the numberplate, attach the power feed to the existing reversing lights, so when the caravan is reversing, I will be able to see exactly what is behind me. As mentioned, the monitor can support 4 cameras, and one of the settings allows for reversing markers to gauge distances even better. That may be an upgrade I complete later this year.
Overall, I am happy with view I have at the rear of the caravan, it has been great to see behind the caravan whilst we are towing, especially on multi lane roads like dual carriageways, motorways and complex junctions. There is certainly no harm in the extra visibility.
The kit is available with a professional installation or as a self-install product from the Falcon Technology website.
