Improved reversing camera view with LED plate number light mod

[DV52]

At any rate, a point I should have made more clearly earlier is that not all LEDs are created equal, so it's not right to generalise that LEDs won't significantly improve the visibility through a rear view camera - because it comes down to what lights you're fitting.

Adam_D: Hmm.... thanks for the clarification

I have R LED tail lights in my car, although the single reversing light is still a standard bulb IIRC. A single super-bright reversing light would certainly outperform bright license plate lights for illumination at a distance, but it all depends on what you're looking at when reversing, and how quickly you are reversing. If you want to see objects that are several feet away, then an appropriately directional reversing light is what you need. If you want to see objects that are within a couple of feet of your bumper, and are at the height of the rear bumper or lower, then license plate lights can make a significant improvement. Given that I'm usually reversing very slowly, and want to make sure I don't hit any obstructions, they do a great job. They also illuminate cars well at ~2-3 feet.

The pic in your post is very illuminating (excuse the pun)! It confirms (in my mind) my initial suspiciion about what's happening when the number plate light is used for backing purposes.

The pic clearly shows the illumination pattern on the garage floor immediately behind the car that has the LED fitted. What's interesting about this spill pattern on the garage floor is its (very) bright center and the rapid deterioration of light intensity over a very small distance. I've highlighted the area in red the pic below. This suggests (to me) that the fitting is reasonably efficient for its intended application. By this I mean that the fitting is designed to contain as much light as possible into the area around the number plate and it seems to do this well. I won't labour the points made previously lest I further inflame your sensibilities. Thanks again for the clarification

[DV52]

Just had a look at mine . No LED! Paid $2000 for the bi-xenon lights and no license plate LED. Not happy, will be going to the dealer and they better come to the table.


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Alex31: Guess you're not alone in being short changed by our good friends at VW Australia. Have you seen the thread below?

http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/f197/no-led-numberplate-lights-94823.html

[ziggyboy]

When I fitted LED license plate lights I noticed a substantial improvement in the quality of night vision from the rear view camera in my Mk6.

I concur.

I fitted LED's on my Jetta and the RVC visibility improved significantly at night. But don't just buy any LED. If you put some with the same brightness as a normal bulb it won't make a difference. I bought the T10 bulb with the most 5050 LED's, also, buy those that direct light on direction as opposed to "circular".

[veew]

Just came across this VCDS mod: if anyone tries it out, please post up pics before and after.

stemei.de .VCDS Codierungen .Codierungsservice .Webdesign - Stefan Meier - Rückfahrlicht Leuchtkraft erhöhen - VCDS Codierungen, Webdesign

[DV52]

Just came across this VCDS mod: if anyone tries it out, please post up pics before and after.

stemei.de .VCDS Codierungen .Codierungsservice .Webdesign - Stefan Meier - Rückfahrlicht Leuchtkraft erhöhen - VCDS Codierungen, Webdesign

Veew: I got mighty interested in your VCDS tweak for changing the illumination of the mkVII backing lights -btw, thanks for the PM. The Google translate facility on my web browser decoded the German language on the webpage to the following:

Adaptation luminance of the back-up lights

The onboard supply control unit you have \the ability to customize the new VW Golf, the brightness of the reversing lights. If desired, the luminance may be increased or decreased.

The following coding is used:

1. STG 09 (vehicle power) Select
2. STG access authorization -> Function 16
3. Enter access code 31347
4. STG adjustment -> function 10
5. (6) Leuchte28RFL LC11-Dimmwert AB 28 Select
6. Adjust value accordingly
7. (6) Leuchte29RFL RA64-Dimmwert AB 29 Select
8. Adjust Value accordingly - Default: 86

I suspect that the VCDS tweaks on the webpage were developed for the German version of the mkV11. As you might be aware, the chassis model that VW exports here to Australia is referred-to more generally as "RoW", which stands for "Rest-of-World" (doubtless, the good burghers at VW's head office consider that Germany and the sun inhabit a not dissimilar place in the universe!)

Anyhow, I dutifully followed the instructions above hoping to send you a few pics of the effect of increasing the light from the backing lights as a result of altering the value in the channel controllers. However, it would appear that my Golf (and I suspect all Australian models) already have the maximum setting as a default. For completeness, I enclose the screens below showing the default setting on my car. I didn't bother sending you pics of the effect of lowering the lighting level because I was aware that you wanted greater illumination from the backing lights. Sorry that I couldn't bring you better news.

[GeckoZAO]

i got genuine LEDs and they do help a little, we all know genuine ones are not THAT bright.
also do the settings, i maximised brightness and contrast, very helpful!

[veew]

DV52, cheers for looking into it! The changes in the contrast and brightness settings have been sufficient over the past week so I'll patiently wait for good W16W LED lights to become available before purchasing.

[DV52]

DV52, cheers for looking into it! The changes in the contrast and brightness settings have been sufficient over the past few weeks so I'll patiently wait for good W16W LED lights to become available before purchasing.

veew: My eagerness in looking at the tweak was more a result of my interest in how the mkVII achieves a change in illumination from what is austensibly a passive device (regardless of whether a bog-standard incandescent, or an LED is fitted to the car).

Some years ago I looked at the voltage signal to a backing light on a Golf mk6. I did this with a Cathrode Ray Oscilloscope. I'm not sure if the same VCDS tweak works on a mk6. Anyhow what I saw was a "chopped" DC waveform. By this I mean that the normal 12Volt DC source to the backing light had an occasional negative pulse (to ground). Can't remember the timing details but I until I saw your tweak, I assumed that the pulse was part of a handshaking signal for the CANBUS protocols.

I'm still not sure what purpose the negative pulse has in the backing light circuit, but it is possible that this is the control mechanism for changing the illumination level. That is, dimming of the backing light could be achieved by increasing the width of the negative pulse (thereby lowering the "effective" voltage to the fitting -and vica-a-versa). There is clearly enough smarts in the Golf to modulate the pulse width of the backing light voltage in sympathy with a changed value on the screens that I posted.

As I say, this is complete speculation on my part. If anyone else can help solve this mystery, I'd welcome their (constructive) response.

[i286]

As many other owners I was not happy with light output of tiny reversing lights. Changed factory globes with pair of T15 W16W 11w COB LED white light globes. Did not see any difference when looking in the mirrors, but they did improve the camera view.
When testing them, found out that when I engage reverse gear my front fog lights turn on as well. I was not aware of this for five months since I bought the car.