Feeding a Composite Video Source into the Honda Civic Factory Navigation Screen

The navigation decoder expects an NTSC composite feed and converts it internally to RGB for the display. Before touching the car, open your player or camera's setup menu and set its output standard to NTSC rather than PAL; NTSC frames sit better on this screen. A standard yellow RCA/phono lead carries the composite signal. Only devices that can be switched to NTSC are suitable - a source locked to PAL will not display correctly.

Most of the effort in this job is simply getting behind the unit, which takes roughly an hour and a half and looks more intimidating than it actually is. Strip the centre dash following a trim-removal writeup for your car, working slowly and noting how each panel clips back together. Because you may want forward-viewing control later, it is worth carrying out the manual reverse-camera switch modification during this same tear-down so the dash does not have to come apart a second time.

With the unit freed you will find a green camera socket at its upper-left corner. It is a 7-pin connector, but only four pins matter for this job: 2, 4, 5 and 7. The full layout is - Pin 1: red, 7 V supply (feeds a genuine Honda camera only); Pin 2: brown, ground; Pin 3: blank/unused; Pin 4: orange, video ground (white on the Honda kit); Pin 5: yellow, video positive (NTSC composite); Pin 6: black, shield (used only on some Honda/Acura variants); Pin 7: blue, camera-detect, which must be tied to ground. Confirm each pin with a multimeter before committing.

There are two practical ways to connect. The quick option: metal terminals salvaged from a cut-down ATX PC power lead push straight onto the head-unit pins and fit them well. The more robust and preferred option: build a proper plug from a 7-pin 100kk Molex housing with crimp pins (RS stock numbers 296-4990 and 467-598 - a pack yields 5 housings and 100 pins for around £8). A crimped Molex plug gives a secure connection that will not work loose behind the dash.

Bridge pin 2 to pin 7. Tying ground to the camera-detect line makes the navigation unit believe a factory reverse camera is installed, and that is what lets it switch the screen over to the video input. Without this link the head unit ignores the incoming signal entirely.

Pin 5 carries video positive and pin 4 is video ground. Route these two conductors to an RCA/phono socket: the centre pin takes video positive, the outer ring takes video ground. Mounting a panel socket lets you plug any yellow composite lead in later without further dismantling. Keep the run short and use screened wire to limit interference on the picture.

As wired above the picture appears only with reverse gear selected, because the unit keys off the reverse signal. To watch a source while driving forward, feed 12 V to the detect circuit through a separate switch and fit a diode so the current cannot back-feed and illuminate the reverse lamps. Note that aftermarket cameras generally need 12 V - the pin-1 7 V rail is only enough for the Honda camera - so power any camera from the reverse-light 12 V feed and leave pin 1 unconnected.

The camera input handles video only, so no sound reaches the speakers through it. To route audio into the standard system, feed a Connects2 interface into the CD-changer auxiliary input. This keeps the source's picture on the navigation screen and its sound through the car's audio.

Before rebuilding, select reverse (or operate your forward-view switch) and confirm the external source displays cleanly on the navigation screen, checking for a stable, correctly-formatted picture. Once you are satisfied it works, refit the dash panels in the reverse order of removal, making sure no wiring is pinched behind the trim.