How anti-glare mirrors work in cars

But at night, due to the light from the car behind shining, causing the driver to be dazzled, this is a really serious problem and causes unsafety.

This means that it is very difficult for drivers to see the road or obstacles ahead. Moreover, when the car behind turns on its headlights, the glare becomes even more obvious. To solve this problem, car manufacturers and technology companies have developed and equipped anti-glare mirrors, a device that is cheap, highly effective, and suitable for most users. Therefore, most mid-range car models on the market today are equipped with anti-glare mirrors.

Nowadays, users can also easily buy anti-glare mirrors to install themselves for their cars from auto parts stores at a fairly low price. In the Vietnamese market today, there are many types of anti-glare mirrors, mainly imported from Taiwan or China. Most modern cars can find a set of anti-glare rearview mirrors to replace at a price of about 350,000 VND for the interior mirror and 1,000,000 VND for the side mirrors.

Most rearview mirrors today use Electrochromic technology. This technology helps limit the light reflected from the rearview mirror to limit the glare caused by the headlights of the car behind. That is, the brighter the reflected light, the darker the rearview mirror becomes.

The structure of the anti-glare mirror has 2 layers, the outer layer is transparent and the inner layer is coated with a reflective material like normal mirrors. Between these two layers of glass there is a magnetic gel, it is different from normal rearview mirrors that only have one layer of glass.

This special material has the ability to change color under the effect of voltage. The voltage changes the inner gel layer located between the two glass panels, which has the effect of preventing light from reaching the reflecting surface.

Meanwhile, the task of detecting glare of this type of mirror is by the light sensor. Therefore, the anti-glare mirror immediately works when the sensor detects a source of ambient light or direct light shining on it with strong intensity when it is dark. The mirror becomes darker, helping the driver overcome the glare and concentrate on driving. When the glare is gone, the mirror will gradually return to normal brightness.

The operation of anti-glare mirrors is quite complicated, and can be briefly understood as follows. The signal receiving mechanism is a forward-facing sensor that detects low light levels around and notifies the electronic system in the mirror. A rear-facing sensor detects glare from vehicles behind, sending a signal to the mirror's central controller with parameters about glare intensity.

The mirror dims at a rate proportional to the intensity of the processed signal, then brightens again when the glare is no longer hitting the mirror. Sensors and the central electronic controller of the cabin mirror control the dimming of both the interior mirror and the exterior mirrors on both sides of the vehicle door.

With the advancement of technology, anti-glare mirrors now include a wider range of options. Some are easy to install, simply attaching a glass cover over the existing rearview mirror. Some models also include a display showing direction and temperature, and even an audio interface and a headlight control sensor.