Captiva

Automatic Day-Night Mirror Description and Operation

The inside rearview mirror uses 2 photocell sensors. One sensor is the headlamp sensor, located on the face side of the mirror. The headlamp sensor is used to determine light conditions present at the mirror face. The other sensor is the ambient light sensor, located on the rear of the mirror or windscreen side. The ambient light sensor is used to determine the exterior light conditions. With a low exterior light condition detected, and a high light condition from behind the car, at the headlamp sensor, the inside rearview mirror will automatically darken the face of the mirror.

In the daytime, the mirror is in a normal state because of the high exterior light condition that is indicated by the ambient light sensor. With the gear selector lever in the REVERSE position and the engine running, backup lamp supply voltage is supplied as an input to the inside rearview mirror. The mirror monitors this input to disable the automatic day-night feature. This allows the driver to see objects in the mirror clearly when backing up, even during the night.

The automatic day-night feature of the outside rearview mirrors is controlled by the inside rearview mirror. The inside rearview mirror supplies a signal and low reference to the outside rearview mirrors. At night, with the automatic day-night feature enabled, the outside rearview mirrors will automatically darken with the inside rearview mirror to reduce glare from headlamps behind the vehicle.