1. A vehicle viewing system for displaying an image of a scene to a vehicle operator, the system comprising: a camera system to generate a signal corresponding to the scene by integrating light from the scene incident on pixel cells, the pixel cells having a variable integration time that sets the length of time during which the pixel cells integrate light despite being exposed to light over a longer period comprising: an optical sensor operative to produce a digital signal corresponding to the scene, wherein the digital signal comprising a magnitude and a range for each pixel cell, the range indicative of the integration period used by the pixel cell; and a lens system to focus the image of the scene onto the optical sensor; a display system to present the image of the scene; and a processor system in communication with the camera system and the display system, the processor system operable to determine the camera system integration time based on brightness levels in the scene.