How to set up a reverse camera on an Android head unit
On a factory Toyota camera there is no trigger wire to connect at all. The camera plugs into Connector 3, and the video comes back out on Connector 10 as a yellow RCA which has to go into the reverse camera input on Harness F. An aftermarket camera is the only case with a trigger to run.
What this gives you
A reverse view on a nine inch screen in a vehicle that never came with one, and the option of a second camera running full time on the auxiliary video input for a trailer or a front view.
Before you start
- Know which camera you have. A factory Toyota camera and an aftermarket camera wire up differently.
- Know the camera type. Standard analog and AHD are both supported, but the unit has to be told which.
- The vehicle chocked and the handbrake on before you test anything in reverse.
Step by step
- Factory Toyota camera: follow the whole path
The factory camera plug goes into Connector 3, which is steering wheel controls and factory camera. From there the signal runs through the 6V converter built into the harness, and the video comes back out on Connector 10 as a yellow RCA. That yellow RCA has to be plugged into the reverse camera input on Harness F. Left unplugged, the picture never appears, and this is the step that gets missed most often.
- Factory Toyota camera: there is no trigger wire
Reverse already arrives on Connector 3, so there is nothing to tap and nothing to meter. If you are hunting for a trigger wire on a factory camera install, you are solving a problem you do not have.
- Aftermarket camera: video first
Run the camera video cable, the yellow RCA, to the reverse camera input on Harness F.
- Aftermarket camera: then the trigger
Take the small red trigger wire from the yellow RCA cable to the pink reverse wire on pin 5 of the 16 pin main plug. On earlier units that wire is brown. There is a second pink wire on Harness F which is the camera 12V supply, so name the plug and the pin rather than looking for the pink wire.
- Aftermarket camera: power the camera
The camera’s own power wire goes to the reverse light circuit at the rear of the vehicle, so it powers up when you select reverse.
- Set the picture format, or you get a black screen
Go to Settings, then Reverse and AUX, then Reverse Camera Format. Choose CVBS N for a factory or standard analog camera, or AHD 720P25 for a PVS AHD camera. Restart the unit after changing it.
- Test it safely
With the wheels chocked and the handbrake on, select reverse and check the screen switches and the picture is the right way up and the right colour.
If it does not work
- Screen never switches to the camera: on a factory camera check Connector 10 is plugged into Harness F. On an aftermarket camera check the trigger at pin 5.
- Screen switches but the picture is black or scrambled: it is the format. Try the other value and restart.
- Picture rolls or the colours are wrong: still the format, not the camera.
Worth knowing
If you want a camera running full time rather than only in reverse, wire it to the auxiliary video input, the yellow RCA on Harness A, and select it from the source button. Reverse still takes priority the moment you shift into reverse.
Related guides
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