# Cars \[camera showing overhead view\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2019, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061 "2019-03-13T11:49:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stosh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@stosh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061/1 "2019-03-13T11:49:27Z")
They have cameras that show a picture from above the car. How does that work? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061/2 "2019-03-13T12:22:42Z")
Context? Example? Another sentence or two? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061/3 "2019-03-13T12:23:11Z")
Multiple cameras and computer technology - [https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/OVERVIEW/avm.html](https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/OVERVIEW/avm.html) > [@](#): > > The four wide-angle cameras set up at on the front, back, left and right are the foundations of the Around View Monitor. > > Video signals from four cameras feed into an image processing unit: The side views showing both left and right; the rear view showing the back of the vehicle; and a front view camera. These signals are then converted into a composite virtual bird’s-eye top view image as if seen from directly above the vehicle. It is this image processing technology that is the key point in the Around View Monitor. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061/4 "2019-03-13T12:29:39Z")
I have an Infiniti Q50. there is a camera on the underside of each side mirror, as well as one at the front grille and one above the rear license place. So all four of these camera provide a clear view of the pavement around the entire perimeter of the car. As **Telemark’s** link says, the “image processing” involves remapping/distorting/stretching/squeezing the images that come from each camera (and then stitching all of them together into one single image) to match what you would expect to see from a single camera a few feet above the center of the whole car. This distortion is calibrated for things at exactly ground level, so the lines at the edges of your parking space look very clear, but of course things that are well above ground level end up severely distorted by this system. Front and rear camera get a little blurry when it’s raining out, but the funny thing is the cameras under the side mirrors. Each of those collects a blob of water that hangs down from the lens and wobbles around on it, creating a weird waving/wiggling image when you look at the camera view. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061/5 "2019-03-13T13:47:02Z")
Let’s face it though, it would be way cooler if they used high tech surveillance satellites supplemented with an army of high-speed autonomous drones that followed us under trees and into tunnels. Also creepier. But at least we could see whether the mattress strapped to the roof was secure. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061/6 "2019-03-13T14:13:02Z")
Title edited to indicate subject. Please use descriptive thread titles. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![stosh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@stosh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061/7 "2019-03-13T21:59:18Z")
Thanks guys, I kinda figured it was a composite picture of several cameras, but I wasn’t sure. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061/8 "2019-03-13T23:14:06Z")
And of course the car in the picture isn’t actually your physical car, but a simulation of a car that looks like yours (“It’s only a model.”). ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061/9 "2019-03-14T13:25:59Z")
Science is taking all the fun out of percussion parallel parking. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reindeer_flotilla/32/3024_2.png) [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reindeer_Flotilla)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-camera-showing-overhead-view/831061/10 "2019-03-14T19:28:43Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > Science is taking all the fun out of percussion parallel parking. ☹ And the use of the chrome horn.