If you buy one of the newer model vehicles, chances are that you might have seen a power button located at the back of the rearview mirror. The main idea is that when you have glare coming from the rear, you could dim the mirror, allowing you to still have optimal visuals coming from the rearview mirror.
Why Does My Rear View Mirror Have A Power Button?
1. Opening Gates And Doors
The first reason for the power button has to do with serving the purpose of remote control. The button can be programmed much like you would program your remote control to make it possible to open gates and your garage door when needed. Instead of having to carry swathes of different keys and door openers, it could be built in.
You should note that this means your door can only be opened when the vehicle has power and if you don’t have a backup, you might not be able to enter. It could also make it dangerous if your vehicle is stolen and someone can open the garage door. However, it is an easy way to get access to your garage if need be.
2. Auto-Dimming Of The Mirror
If your vehicle is equipped with a smart mirror, it can enable you to control how much brightness the mirror can dim. You will notice two power buttons on the back of the mirror, one with an “ON” and the other with an “OFF” switch.
The idea of the auto-dimming feature is that the rear light sensor in your car will detect the brightness and luminosity of the light coming from the car following you. If the brightness is higher than a certain level, the mirror would naturally dim and become darker.
This will enable you to continue driving and using the rearview mirror without being impeded by the glare coming from the car following you. Many people like driving their cars with the brightest light settings activated when it is dark. This will make it easier for you to continue driving without having your rearview mirror go blind.
How Does My Rear View Mirror Switch Work?
Depending on the model of your vehicle, you could have one switch with an indication on either side that tells you when it is on or off, or you could have two different switches. If you have a single switch, it is self-explanatory, and depending on the direction of the switch, auto-dimming would be activated or not.
For vehicles with two buttons, it is slightly different. One button might have a straight line-through button, whereas the other could have a circle. The line indicates that the switch is turned on when you press it. For the circle symbol, you will find that it turns the auto-dimming feature off and this could make it harder to resist glare.
Why Does My Rear View Mirror Get Dark?
If you have not noticed a dimming feature on your mirror, you might have it activated. When it is activated, you could notice that the mirror will get darker at certain points. However, this mostly happens when you are driving around at night. If you turn on the vehicle, the auto-dimming feature should start as activated.
Since there is a light sensor located at the rear of the vehicle, the sensor would communicate with the dimming feature on the mirror. At a certain level of brightness detected from behind, your mirror might get darker. You can even experiment with this by using a flashlight to see if the sensor can work and dim the lights.
You might want to turn auto-dimming off during the day, as we have noticed that having bright sunlight from the rear could darken the mirror. The sunlight might not even affect the mirror, but due to it shining on the sensor, it could darken the mirror to ensure you have optimal vision. It is best to play with the toggles.
Does Auto-Dimming Limit Visibility?
If the auto-dimming feature does not work correctly, it might impede your visibility and this might make it harder for you to see. However, if you have a vehicle without the auto-dimming feature, you would manually need to adjust the mirror downwards to adjust the angle from the glare and change your visibility.
The problem with adjusting your mirror is that you will be impeding your view and this makes it dangerous to drive your vehicle. Certain versions of the auto-dimming mirror like the auto-electrochromic mirror from Alfa Romeo adjust the visibility depending on the light detected from the rear.
This means that your vision in the mirror should always remain the same. You will find more and more brands using this version for their auto-dimming mirrors.
What Is An Intelligent Rearview Mirror?
If you have been following the latest car news and technology, you might have heard of the intelligent mirror from the Nissan brand. The idea of this mirror is to not only include dimming, but rather rely on rear cameras and an LCD. The LCD would display images from the rear of the vehicle while you are driving and serve as a mirror.
This technology removes the possible impedance of passengers in the rear of the vehicle and the effect of driving at night is also greatly reduced.