Patent ID: 8047667

Claim:
An interior rearview mirror system suitable for use in a vehicle, said interior rearview mirror system comprising: an interior rearview mirror assembly having a mirror housing and a reflective element; wherein said reflective element comprises an electro-optic reflective element; wherein said electro-optic reflective element comprises a transflective mirror reflector and wherein said transflective mirror reflector comprises a metal thin film layer; wherein said mirror housing is adjustable relative to an interior portion of a vehicle equipped with said interior rearview mirror assembly when said interior rearview mirror assembly is normally mounted in the equipped vehicle; wherein adjustment of said mirror housing by a driver of the equipped vehicle adjusts a rearward field of view of said electro-optic reflective element when said interior rearview mirror assembly is normally mounted in the equipped vehicle; an information display operable to display information for viewing by the driver of the equipped vehicle; wherein said information display comprises a reconfigurable liquid crystal display comprising a plurality of pixels, and wherein said information display is operable to display video images; wherein said information display is disposed in said mirror housing rearward of said transflective minor reflector of said reflective element; wherein information displayed by said information display is viewable by the driver of the equipped vehicle viewing through said transflective mirror reflector of said reflective element when said information display is displaying information, and wherein, when said information display is not displaying information, the presence of said information display behind said transflective mirror reflector of said reflective element is substantially not discerned by the driver of the equipped vehicle normally viewing said reflective element when operating the equipped vehicle; wherein information display intensity of said information display is adjustable responsive to determination of a light level at said interior rearview mirror assembly by at least one photosensor; wherein said information display is operable to display video images captured by a rearward facing video camera of the equipped vehicle and wherein said information display displays video images captured by said rearward facing video camera during a reversing maneuver of the equipped vehicle; and wherein, during a reversing maneuver of the equipped vehicle, a signal indicative of the vehicle transmission being in reverse is communicated via a network bus of the equipped vehicle to a control of said interior rearview mirror assembly.