Gentex Rear Camera Display Mirrors Exceed Proposed US NHTSA Requirements

Gentex Corporation, the leading US-based supplier of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and camera-based lighting-assist features, today provided an update on the capabilities of the company's Rear Camera Display (RCD) Mirrors, which exceed certain requirements of the 7 December 2010 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) promulgated in relation to the Kids Transportation Safety Act (KTSA). In addition, recent independent studies reveal that mirror-borne displays are more effective in helping drivers detect and avoid accidents when reversing, compared with drivers using in-dash displays.*

The Kids Transportation Safety Act is a law intended to expand the field-of-view behind vehicles to help prevent pedestrian injuries and deaths from reversing accidents. The 7 December 2010 NPRM requires that global automakers install reversing cameras and related video displays in all new vehicles in the US by September 2014 (with a phase-in of certain percentages of vehicles before then). The NPRM provides certain requirements for those reversing cameras and displays, including that the display must turn on in two seconds or less from the time that the vehicle is put in reverse gear, and that the luminance (brightness) of the display must be at least 500cd/m2 (candela per square metre).

The Gentex mirror-integrated display provides customers with immediate compliance with the 7 December NPRM. The company's RCD Mirrors respond in two seconds or less, and typically have a daytime luminance in the range of 1,200 to 1,500cd/m2, as specified by the majority of the company's customers. Gentex has a wide range of technology offerings within its RCD product portfolio that are intended to meet diverse customer requirements, and currently manufactures RCD Mirrors as bright as 4,000cd/m2.

“We believe that Gentex RCD Mirrors are faster, brighter and are more cost-effective than other displays available today, offering our customers ‘immediate compliance’ with the KTSA,” said Enoch Jen, Gentex senior vice president. “At 4,000cd/m2 the displays are more than 300 per cent brighter than any current in-dash display.”

“We are urging our customers to consider our RCD Mirrors as part of their strategy for meeting the requirements of the NHTSA rule, which is expected to be finalised by the end of 2011, said Jen.

Gentex RCD Mirrors are currently offered on 62 vehicle models by nine different car makers. The company shipped 1.25 million RCD Mirrors in calendar 2010, and currently expects that RCD Mirror unit shipments will increase by approximately 50 per cent for the first six months of 2011, compared with the same period in 2010, based on IHS Automotive's mid-April forecast for automotive light vehicle production.

Additionally, recent independent studies, including one published by SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers) in 2011*, indicate that displays located in the interior rearview mirror can be significantly more effective than other display locations at helping the driver to detect and avoid reversing accidents.

“The number of backover incidences were significantly fewer when the drivers surveyed utilised a mirror-borne display compared with in-dash displays,” said Jen. “The mirror appears to be a safer location for the display, likely because it is in the driver's natural line-of-sight, can be viewed while maintaining a ‘heads-up’ posture, and is in a logical, intuitive and ergonomic location that the driver is already accustomed to viewing regularly and frequently -- particularly when backing up.

The Gentex RCD Mirror, launched in 2007, consists of a bright, high-resolution liquid crystal display (LCD) that works with a vehicle manufacturer-specified video camera to provide a view directly behind the vehicle while backing up. When the vehicle is shifted into “reverse” a display appears automatically within two seconds through the auto-dimming mirror's reflective surface. The display disappears when the vehicle is shifted into any other gear, a capability made possible utilising Gentex “transflective” coating and lighting techniques.

Over the past several years, Gentex has continually improved its rearview mirror video display technology, by enhancing its size and improving its brightness, resolution and display capabilities, and reducing its power consumption. It's also a cost-effective location because it's “plug and play” -- and allows the automaker to avoid the significant expense of retooling each vehicle's instrument panel.

The Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act was signed into law on 28 February 2008. At that time, the US Secretary of Transportation was charged with writing a regulation instructing global automakers on the requirements that new vehicles in the US will need to meet in order to comply with the KTSA.

On 7 December 2010, NHTSA issued its NPRM for the KTSA. In that NPRM, NHTSA stated that all new vehicles under 10,000lbs (approximately 4,500kg) in the United States will be required to have backup camera-based systems by September 2014. The phase-in schedule indicated was 10 per cent of cars and 33 per cent of trucks in the US by September 2012, 40 per cent of cars and 67 per cent of trucks by September 2013, and 100 per cent of all vehicles by September 2014. That proposed rule was subject to public comment with the stated intention for it to be finalised by 28 February 28 2011.

On 2 March 2011, an update was published in the Federal Register, summarising a 25 February 2011 letter from the US Secretary of Transportation to Congress indicating that NHTSA would not meet the 28 February 2011 deadline, and that they would re-open the public comment period for 45 days (until 18 April 2011). In addition, it was announced that NHTSA would hold a public meeting in Washington to exchange ideas on the backover issue, and that NHTSA would also host a technical workshop to address questions regarding the proposed testing procedure and other technical items. The letter also indicated that NHTSA would publish the final rule by 31 December 2011.

Also published on 2 March 2011 were a number of revisions to the NPRM, including a change to the phase-in period on the regulation for trucks so that it aligned with the schedule for cars (10 per cent by September 2012, 40 per cent by September 2013 and 100 per cent by September 2014). The technical workshop was held on 11 March 2011 and the public hearing was held on 23 March 2011. No further information is available at this time.