Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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No more rearview mirrors

Replacing all rearview mirrors by cameras
  (+3)
(+3)
  [vote for,
against]

My idea is simply to replace rearview mirror and side mirrors for cameras. One single LCD mounted on the dashboard or in the middle of frontshield, on the bottom (what do you english speaking dudes call that plastic surface under the windshield, in front of the driver?), that is, would receive the signal forming an image divided in these three inputs. Alternatively there could be three LCDs. There are several advantages to this: - improved field of vision in the front by removing rear view mirror - side cameras could be adjusted to minimize blind spots - improved aerodynamics due to the replacement of side mirrors by smaller camera casings.

More cameras could be connected to the system, for parking, for instance, aas it has been suggested by other ideas, I think.

Could this be achieved only with lenses and mirrors (less hightech, less expansive)?

PauloSargaco, Mar 18 2003

Rearview Camera http://www.electron...m/acrearcamsys.html
Like the man/woman/auto says, one of many. [DrCurry, Oct 05 2004]

[link]






       this has been baked for ten years.
ato_de, Mar 18 2003
  

       English speaking dudes call it a dash board.   

       Hm. Just read the last sentence. It *is* currently done with lenses and mirrors. What was it you were trying to replace? Duh.
DrCurry, Mar 18 2003
  

       DrCurry -> Well, maybe I didn't explain myself correctly. I meant having a periscope-like solution for it. A small lens substituting nowadays side mirrors, and a tube that could carry the light into another mirror INSIDE the car. You see? Cheaper than cameras and LCDs. Is this clear enough? If not I can rephrase it again.   

       The link you posted is not a replacement for rearview mirrors. Could you post one more like what I described? Thanks   

       2 fries shy of a happy meal -> cool, so I already knew it.   

       ato_de -> great!
PauloSargaco, Mar 18 2003
  

       One question: Why? How is looking at the dashboard better than in a mirror?   

       One issue: If your electrical system dies in a modern car, you're already quite screwed. Losing your mirrors would only make it worse. I might have bunned "augment mirrors" (well, not really, since it's quite baked), but will bone "replace mirrors".
Worldgineer, Mar 18 2003
  

       Worldgineer -> Well, maybe this is subjective, but I find it very annoying to have the reaview mirror in the way when I want to look from left to right. The dashboard solution would keep the whole windshield clear. Another advantage is when you have full ocupancy in the back and the heads block the rearview mirror. About the electrical system issue you're right, of course, but then again, nothing works if that happens. For that maybe the periscope-like alternative...?
PauloSargaco, Mar 18 2003
  

       I kind of like the tech overkill and will croissant this. At lease this guy has a brain. Everything else here today has been really extra below par.
snarfyguy, Mar 18 2003
  

       [PauloSargaco], maybe your target market is wrong. Forget the family hatchback. Sell this to truck/bus/van drivers.
Mayfly, Mar 18 2003
  

       // I find it very annoying to have the reaview mirror in the way when I want to look from left to right. //   

       Simple solution: make the windshield higher.
pottedstu, Mar 18 2003
  

       Perhaps have two lenses mounted either side of the rear windscreen, fibrer optic cables relaying two images onto a single screen. Would this pseudo-binocular vision result in restoration of perspective?   

       I've often wondered why door mirrors aren't replaced with prisms, with a viewer placed inside the door. Much more aerodynamically efficient.
egbert, Mar 19 2003
  

       [egbert] - Good grace...a believer! Thank you brother. Join me in this crusade against those pesky mirrors :-)
PauloSargaco, Mar 19 2003
  

       My one real query about replacing mirrors with cameras is how well do they cope with headlights at night and other sources of lens flare? Using the mirror, even when you have bright lights behind you, you can often make out detail at the edges of the field of view. With a camera based system, the adjustments to exposure that would be needed may black-out the rest of the image under those conditions.
oneoffdave, Mar 19 2003
  

       I think it perfectly reasonable to replace 20,000:1 contrast ratio vision with 800:1 (on a good day) don't you?   

       [oneoffdave] there are video camera systems emerging which simultaneously capture an exposure set for bright scene regions and one for dark scene regions and then blend the two together. Some use two CCDs or cameras while others use two sequential captures (frames) with each frame having exposure optimized differently.
bristolz, Mar 19 2003
  

       [ood] This is the halfbakery - don't see the wall in front of you as an obstacle but instead as a fuel source. There's a wonderful opportunity staring you in the face - glare elimination! I've often wished there could be some sort of moving black dot on my mirror that could be dynamically positioned in front of the sun/SUV headlight. With a camera based system, just provide some logic that will block out any blinding light source, and leave the rest of the image unchanged.
Worldgineer, Mar 19 2003
  

       Thanks for the enlightenment [bristolz]. I suspected there might be a way round it but camera tech isn't one of my strong points.
oneoffdave, Mar 20 2003
  

       [ravenswood] - I'm intrigued by the lost perspective that you pointed out. This results as a consequence of what? Is it because the image is shown in a different place?   

       [bristolz] - That argument sort of kills the camera approach. Maybe I'll reformulate the idea to include only prisms and light conducting tubes like really large fiber-optics.   

       *whine* oh, and I think it's not fair that some people say they will vote for the idea and then not do it. By my accounting the idea should have +2 (and all the minuses, of course) :-)
PauloSargaco, Mar 20 2003
  

       Sorry. Forgot.
egbert, Mar 20 2003
  

       Tell you what. I'll give you a pity bun. Now it's +3.
Worldgineer, Mar 20 2003
  

       Great idea! Get rid of the rear view altogether by facing backwards. Then use a camera to view the road ahead. That way, when you have a head-on collision (rather more frequently with this set-up) you will be harmlessly decelerated by your comfy car seat, rather than by impact of your face with a steering wheel.
pluterday, Mar 20 2003
  

       That was baked in a vehicle used in some Gerry Anderson puppet series. (I am pleased to report that I don't know which one; it's bad enough knowing it at all.)
angel, Mar 21 2003
  

       I, however, am an utterly sad bloke and do know. It was the SPV (Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle) in Captain Scarlet.
DrBob, Mar 21 2003
  
      
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