Patent ID: 8547624

Claim:
An electrical control system for controlling a variable transmittance window, comprising: a slave window control circuit coupled to the variable transmittance window; and a user input mechanism coupled to said slave window control circuit, wherein said user input mechanism is configured to supply control signals representing desired transmittance levels for the variable transmittance window to said slave window control circuit, said slave window control circuit controls the transmittance of the variable transmittance window in response to control signals received from said user input mechanism, said user input mechanism includes lights coupled to said slave window control circuit, said lights providing information to system users, including at least one of: current transmittance state of the variable transmittance window, selected transmittance state of the variable transmittance window, whether the variable transmittance window is currently changing transmittance states, whether said user input mechanism is being overridden, and whether the system is operating properly.