Patent ID: 7771061

Claim:
A display mirror assembly suitable for use in a vehicle, said assembly comprising: a prismatic reflective mirror element having a front side and a rear side, and wherein said prismatic reflective mirror element comprises a vehicular interior rearview reflective mirror element; said prismatic reflective mirror element comprising a semitransparent mirror reflector coated onto a light-transmitting glass substrate; wherein visible light transmission through said prismatic reflective mirror element is greater than about 3 percent visible light transmission and less than about 30 percent visible light transmission; wherein visible light reflectance by said prismatic reflective mirror element is at least 40 percent visible light reflectance for visible light incident upon the front side of said prismatic reflective mirror element; wherein said prismatic reflective mirror element does not exhibit substantial spectral selectivity in its reflectance of visible light incident upon the front side of said prismatic reflective mirror element; said semitransparent mirror reflector comprising a metal thin film layer; a display device; said display device disposed to the rear of the rear side of a sub-region of said prismatic reflective mirror element and configured so that light emitted by said display device passes through said metal thin film layer of said semitransparent mirror reflector to be viewed by a viewer viewing from the front of said prismatic reflective mirror element so as to be viewable by a driver of a vehicle equipped with said display mirror assembly, said metal thin film layer being present and uninterrupted at said sub-region of said substrate where said display device is disposed therebehind; and wherein said display device is operable to exhibit, when electrically powered and when operated in the equipped vehicle during day time driving conditions, a display luminance of at least about 60 foot lamberts to the driver of the equipped vehicle who is viewing said reflective mirror element, as measured with said display device placed behind, and emitting light through, said uninterrupted metal thin film layer of said semitransparent mirror reflector of said prismatic reflective mirror element.