I'd be interested to see a picture of this thing at night (Also how it works after a year out on the road and in the weather). That's usually where the cheap CMOS knockoff cameras fall short, and coincidentally night-time is usually when you most need a good picture. Even the more expensive brand name CMOS rear-view cameras fall short in this area, because CMOS sensors aren't very good in low-light situations. This is because CMOS sensors are very susceptible to noise due to the way they work. You can mitigate that in software somewhat but that isn't going to be the case with these cameras.
So a fair statement would be, if you are going to cheap out and get a CMOS based rear-view camera anyway, why pay Pioneer or whoever $150 for theirs when you can get a cheap knockoff for far less, warranty or no. I might agree with that (with conditions) but I'm of the opinion that going cheap on a rear view camera is a bad idea no matter who makes it.
You get what you pay for. For a real backup camera that is going to work in all lighting conditions you want one with a CCD sensor. Kenwood sells a very well regarded one, great image, very good at night when the reverse lights are on, reliable, waterproof, costs $200 but we're talking about a freaking backup camera here, something that by design in meant to keep you from running in to things with your car/truck, or God forbid running someone over, don't cheap out on it. Personally I think a bad camera is worse than no camera because with a bad camera you'll still rely on it. What's a couple hundred bucks for something meant to save you far more in damages to your vehicle, or another person? That's just me though.
My other worry with these knock-offs is the wiring. The Ebay one linked above requires you to straight up tap the reverse lights at the rear of your vehicle. I know this isn't exactly a high-current device but that's not a very good way to do it, especially with wires that thin/cheap, and not a fuse in sight. The better cameras, you route the power along with the video cable to the front of your vehicle, avoiding your gas tank, lines, and break lines of course (I usually follow the existing wiring harness up to the earliest point I can enter the vehicle, then run it inside the rest of the way) to a separate power block. Said block has a fuse of it's own and connects right to your vehicle fuse box, or you can tap it in to the ACC 12v signal your HU uses and ground it to the chassis. Then you run the video cable up to your HU. That is the safe, reliable way to do it, and is how the Pioneer, Kenwood, and other good branded cameras install. The knock-off linked above cannot be installed that way, it's meant to be tapped in to existing wiring in the rear lights of your vehicle, which you would not get me to do, I don't care if it works or how easy it is.
Whether all Chinese factory knock offs are crap or not is debatable. I don't think there's much of a debate with these cameras though; I'm not saying Pioneer or Kenwood's high-priced cameras are a good value either, but when you pay $9 for a camera + $26 to ship it you'll get what you pay for. And once again, we are talking about a device meant to help you avoid far worse in damages.
Come on you'll pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for a custom audio system but you'll cheap out on the camera? Would you buy $9 knock off speakers from a no-name Ebay merchant? I don't think so.
