Nissan's smart rearview mirror technology: real-time capture of the scene behind the car

    In the automotive field, some leading technologies are usually applied to racing cars, and then gradually popularized to ordinary automotive products. High-end carbon ceramic brake system is a very good example. However, consumer-grade civilian automobile technology sometimes brings unexpected benefits to racing cars, such as the Nissan Full Display Mirror system we are going to introduce today. According to foreign media Cnet, Full Display Mirror was originally a smart rearview mirror (Smart Rearview Mirror) concept technology specially developed by Nissan for its passenger cars.

    The technology allows drivers to switch between a standard rearview mirror and an LCD display with camera functionality.

    In fact, such technology is very practical, because after the car is equipped with a smart rearview mirror, the driver will not be blocked by obstacles and unable to see the situation behind the car. It is worth mentioning that this advanced rearview mirror technology has proven its role in the racing arena.

    We all know that due to the body design, the interior of a racing car does not support the installation of standard rearview mirrors. However, when driving at high speeds, the driver cannot get enough visibility behind the car by relying solely on the side rearview mirrors.

    In view of this situation, Nissan and Gentex have developed a similar rearview mirror system for their racing cars, which is the Full Display Mirror. Nissan's latest Le Mans racing car GT-R LM Nismo is equipped with this system, and it has been proven that it can really play a huge role in the racing arena.

    It is understood that Nissan uses the same concept as the smart rearview mirror mentioned above in the Full Display Mirror system, that is, adding a hidden LCD display function to the traditional rearview mirror. The camera at the rear of the car will transmit the captured images to the LCD screen in real time, thus helping the driver to always understand the information behind the car.

     In addition, in order to ensure that the image in the LCD display is clear, Nissan uses a camera that supports high dynamic range (HDR), which can perform multiple exposures of the image to improve the image quality. It can not only add extra light when driving at night, but also avoid overexposure of the picture caused by glare from the sun.

    For a 24-hour endurance race like Le Mans, it is very important to always know the information behind the car. During the race, there will be a variety of cars with different performance levels on the track, and the driver needs to know clearly what the opponents are doing.

    For example, with the Full Display Mirror system, the driver can know whether the vehicle behind him intends to overtake, so as to make reasonable choices in advance, such as giving way or blocking the opponent. If the information is not comprehensive enough, an inadvertent lane change may cause a collision with the opponent who is starting to overtake, which is very dangerous.