So I had LED reverse lights with strobe on my Xterra that I got from VLED's and put them in my G yesterday. Not happy with them since they don't throw much light. My license plate lights seem to have a higher output. Going to try those extras in my reverse lights and if that doesn't work I am gonna have to get some from the vendor Diode Dynamics. He has some with 410 lumens for the output.......

 

Yeah, I'm not happy with my reverse LED's either. I can't see a thing through my reverse camera at night. Gonna switch back to the stock bulbs whenever I find them.

 

I have them also, Love them, They look really good, I drive backwards all the time LOL

 

That's 410 lumens (measured) too


Nick C.

 

I bought the brightest LEDs from Diodynamics and I still cant see anything in camera when backing up.

 

Are your windows bricks by chance? Or limo-tinted?

Nick C.

 

He did mention through the camera, not the rear window. 410 lumens is bright, but depends on how they are projected. If more of a spot, then your backup camera may not be helped as it points downwards quite a bit. It would have to flood at a very good angle to help the backup camera. I haven't pulled the trigger yet on the reverse lights. May have to look at the spread on the stocks and see what is available. Didn't think about the illumination with regards to where the camera looks.

 

I've also noticed that having brighter license plate lighting can aid the backup camera's nighttime visibility

Nick C.

 

I upgraded plate lights with some decent LEDs. I may do some testing, blocking off the plate lights, so I can get a better feel for the illumination I get.

 

Here's a recent comparison with our options:



The HP5 throws some serious output (92 lumens) measured

Nick C.

 

Looks bright and I always like the 5500K plus temp, just not sure I would personally want that much light on my plate continuously. I would probably prefer a second set of lights that go on with reverse to illuminate for the camera.

 

Wow, that is really bright for just the license plate. It bit too much for me.

 

From DD, I have the XP50 (410 lumens) reverse LEDs and SMD1 (16 lumens, their lowest) for license plate LEDs. My observation is that straight back (and downward towards the back) illumination is perfectly acceptable, but light does not cast to the sides as well as stock bulbs. I was expecting that, as it's characteristic of LEDs, and I don't rely on my camera for side-to-side vision anyways. I always look with my own eyes to the sides. For me, it's not an issue, and I love the look of the reverse LEDs. For others, you might not like that loss of multi-directional illumination. Brighter license LEDs would likely help, but I don't like the look of overly bright lights on my plate.

 

Agreed. When you're in the middle of a get-a-way, you surely don't want bystanders to be able to read your tags. That's how you ruin a perfectly good bank heist. So I went with yellow LED's on my plates. And I love my reverse LED's in bright white. Seem plenty bright to me.

Here's a pic from 3 years ago:

 

My license plate and reverse lights are from DD, they look good as far as light color, output seems about equal to OEM (forget which bulbs I got exactly)