Patent ID: 7859737

Claim:
An interior rearview mirror system for a vehicle, said interior rearview mirror system comprising: an interior rearview mirror assembly comprising a reflective element having a transparent substrate; a multi-zone mirror reflector established at a surface of said transparent substrate; wherein said multi-zone mirror reflector comprises at least a first zone and a second zone, and wherein at least one metallic reflective layer is commonly established at said surface and across said first and second zones of said multi-zone mirror reflector; wherein at least said second zone is partially transmissive to visible light passing therethrough; a display device disposed behind said second zone of said multi-zone mirror reflector; wherein said display device is operable to emit display information and wherein, when said display device is operating to emit display information, emitted display information passes through said second zone of said multi-zone mirror reflector for viewing by a driver operating the equipped vehicle; wherein said second zone of said multi-zone mirror reflector has a degree of transmissivity of visible light therethrough that is greater than a degree of transmissivity of visible light through said first zone of said multi-zone mirror reflector; and wherein said multi-zone mirror reflector comprises a multi-layer stack of thin film layers that includes said metallic reflective layer, and wherein said multi-layer stack of thin film layers includes at least one transparent electrically conductive layer.