Patent ID: 7379089
Filing Date: 2008-05-27
Classification: B60R,H04N

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for monitoring the immediate surroundings of a vehicle comprising: a camera mounted on a back door or a side door that can open and close, such that a captured area of the camera is different when said back door or said side door is open than when said back door or said side door is closed; a display which indicates a captured image of the vehicle immediate surroundings captured by the camera, and which the occupant of the vehicle can visually check; a door-open determining device which determines whether the back door or the side door, on which the camera that captures the captured image indicated on the display is mounted, is unclosed based on a signal from a door courtesy switch; and a display controller that superimposes an indication that the back door or the side door is open on the captured image that is taken from the camera mounted on the open door indicated on the display, when the door-open determining device determines that the back door or the side door is unclosed.