Car headset with 360 cameras

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CokemonZ

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#322878 2-Oct-2025 21:16

Anyone tried this sort of thing?

I have a couple of huge vans that are a nightmare to drive. Hoping these will help.

Looking at the 360 model.

Worried that they will be a bit rubbish.

Plan is to get them professionally installed.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007570717271.html

tieke

688 posts

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ID Verified

#3420895 3-Oct-2025 10:27

I installed a Dudu7 head unit with 360 cameras in my long-wheelbase hiace last month (pretty well-specced Android head unit, need at least the 8-128G specced unit to have the 360 camera chip installed).

It works pretty well, but standard 360 camera installs are definitely intended for a car rather than a van, so the length of your van will affect how simple the install is. You can swap out the standard reverse camera and put one in the grill easily enough, but generally the side cameras are installed under the wing mirrors, which is fine for a car, but for a long-wheelbase van means that the side rear portion of the coverage is a bit distorted. I know some people with campervans have installed the cameras at a midpoint on the sides to get the best coverage, but that generally means attaching them to a slightly sticking-out roof bracket, as the camera needs to be outside the body of the van.

I ended up just putting them under the mirrors as installation ease was an acceptable trade-off for picture quality. I've hooked the sensor wires into the indicators, so the headunit automatically shows the appropriate side-view when you change lanes etc, but I wouldn't look at them over the standard mirrors.

It's best to buy or make a calibration mat to simplify initial 360 alignment stitching - if you're in Wellington, I still have mine.

I was upgrading my headunit anyway, so the 360 camera thing was a nice addition, but I'm not sure it is helpful enough for me to have solely upgraded for the camera functionality.

CokemonZ

1116 posts

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#3420899 3-Oct-2025 10:53

Ok ok,

The reason for this is I hire temp workers to drive these monsters, and the level of confidence in reversing is 'variable' irrespective of what they say.

Hoping this will be a help.

Think I can manage with the distortion.

Good idea about the indicator showing the side.

Had no idea about the calibration mats - assume an installer would have something to do this.

Did you source locally or via Ali?

tieke

688 posts

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#3420915 3-Oct-2025 11:13

I went via AliExpress, as that is effectively the official Dudu7 online store. No matter what headunit/manufacturer you end up going with, you will probably need to buy the headunit, a vehicle-specific harness, the 360 cameras, and possibly a mounting option if you're buying a unit with a display bigger than your original one, so the costs can add up relatively quickly.

If you are buying via Aliexpress, check with the seller that the unit has the chip to work with 360 cameras - the headunits used to list that they were "360 camera capable", but the seller wouldn't install the additional 360 IC unless requested. (ie I think the Dudu7 units now have the camera chip installed by default on their 8/128G units and above, but you need to specifically request it for the 6+64GB unit or Dudu5/6 ones).

CokemonZ

1116 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 315

#3420925 3-Oct-2025 11:47

You are a legend.

The reviews on these units look good compared to some of the others.

I'll do a little investigation and bring one in.

Then to find someone to install it.