iamdub
Full Access Member
You don't want it to have constant power. It's an electronic device with circuitry and possibly LEDs (infrared for nighttime resolution), so it has a certain lifespan. Also, giving it constant power with one circuit wouldn't do anything different than powering it by the reverse light circuit. With either one, it's gonna be sending a signal to the head unit but nothing will display on the head unit until you switch to reverse. Your head unit should have an option to view the rearview camera when not in reverse. I don't know if it has a switched output to power it if you selected this option. It would be convenient if it did. Gonna have to scour the instruction manual for that answer. If it doesn't, you could wire it to a switch, turn it on, then select the camera option (whatever it's called on your head unit) if you wanted to view the rear camera when not in reverse. The real purpose of this is for a forward-facing camera. You could wire both cameras to the same input with a Y-adapter and the head unit will display whichever one is sending it a signal. So, when you put it in reverse, the rear camera will power up and send it's video signal to the head unit. If you had a forward-facing camera, you would activate it (either by the head unit's output if it has one or by a switch) then select the camera option on the head unit. This would be useful when pulling up to a tall curb (especially useful if you're lowered) or if you need to get tight to a wall in a garage or to another car in a parking lot.
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