Patent ID: 7311428

Claim:
An interior rearview mirror system for a vehicle, said interior rearview mirror system comprising: an interior rearview mirror assembly, said interior rearview mirror assembly comprising a reflective mirror element; said reflective element comprising one of (a) a variable reflectance reflective element having a reflectivity which is variable in accordance with a voltage applied thereto and (b) a prismatic reflective element; said reflective element disposed in a mirror housing; said interior rearview mirror assembly comprising a mounting portion for attaching said interior rearview mirror assembly to a portion of an interior of the vehicle; said reflective element having a field of view rearward of the vehicle when said interior rearview mirror assembly is attached at the portion of the interior of the vehicle; said interior rearview mirror assembly including at least one pivot joint enabling a driver of the vehicle to adjust the rearward field of view of said reflective element to that driver's desired setting; a directional information display; wherein said directional information display comprises one of a liquid crystal display, a vacuum fluorescent display, a light emitting diode display and an electro luminescent display; a compass sensor comprising a magneto-responsive sensor selected from the group consisting of a magneto-resistive sensor, a magneto-capacitive sensor, a Hall effect sensor, and a magneto-inductive sensor; said compass sensor disposed in said mirror housing behind and supported by said reflective element such that adjustment about said at least one pivot joint by the driver to set the rearward field view of said reflective element moves said compass sensor in tandem with movement of said reflective element; and wherein said interior rearview mirror assembly comprises a video camera, said video camera having, when said interior rearview mirror assembly is normally mounted in the vehicle, a field of view that encompasses one of (i) the windshield of the vehicle and (ii) the driver of the vehicle.