Patent ID: 6400405
Filing Date: 2002-06-04
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
An apparatus for watching around a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:an image pick-up unit, mounted on an exterior of the vehicle, for picking up images of the surroundings of the vehicle; a display unit, provided within the vehicle, for displaying the images with a mask image superimposed on the images; a light-to-dark decision unit for deciding lightness outside the vehicle and outputting a light-to-dark decision signal; wherein a display color of the mask image is switchable from one to another; and the display color of the mask image is set switchable from one to another according to the light-to-dark decision signal from the light-to-dark decision unit, wherein a plurality of colors including light and dark colors are provided as the display color of the mask image; and the display color of the mask image is switched to the dark color when the luminous intensity outside the vehicle is decided to be high based on the light-to-dark decision signal, and to the light color when the luminous intensity outside the vehicle is decided to be low based thereon.