curious thing while driving

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - curious thing while driving

Posted: 9/5/2019 2:56:29 AM EDT

So made my first attempt at driving under NOD's (dual PVS14's) the other night. It's awesome. Had a weird issue though that I can't explain, hoping somebody here can. Looking in my driver side side mirror, image to the rear is clear. Looking in my passenger side side mirror, image to the rear is out of focus. Both passenger and driver side windows are down if it makes any difference. Why would the image in one mirror be clear, but out of focus in the other. Focus on my 14's is set to a star in the sky. I can't for the life of my figure this out. Seems they should both be in focus. Explanations?

Posted: 9/5/2019 3:06:19 AM EDT

[#1]

I would guess it's due to the fact that the passenger mirror is slightly convex.

Posted: 9/5/2019 9:08:50 AM EDT

[#2]

What kind of vehicle? My driver side mirror is auto dimming, but my passenger side is not. Not sure if that's causing your issue.
Do you have lens caps with the pin holes on?

Posted: 9/5/2019 9:40:03 AM EDT

[#3]

Probably electrochromatic glass. Does your rear view mirror do the same?

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/electrochromic-windows.html

ETA: on second thought, probably not. It might not transmit light correctly but it shouldn't be distorted / out of focus. It is probably due to the shape of the reflector. There is probably a sign etched in it: Objects in the mirror appear out of focus under NV

Posted: 9/5/2019 11:21:09 AM EDT

[#4]

Quote History

Quoted:
I would guess it's due to the fact that the passenger mirror is slightly convex.

View Quote

Betting you're right. Someone smarter than me can explain the "why." My truck is the same as OP.

This is probably the same reason the passenger mirrors are required by law to read "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear"

Posted: 9/5/2019 2:52:32 PM EDT

[#5]

Same here. My driver's side mirror as well as rear view are clear. Passenger mirror is blurry.

Posted: 9/5/2019 4:09:34 PM EDT

[#6]

By law, certain mirrors have to be perfectly flat. I thought the passenger one was the flat one. But anyway, the rest are slightly tubed for a wider field of view. Not necessarily convex, but they reflect light as if they were.

Posted: 9/7/2019 1:07:22 AM EDT

[#7]

Pretty sure it's the auto dimming feature for the mirror. I tried it out in my truck tonight and the driver side mirror as well as the rearview mirror were clear. Passenger side was blurry until I focused the lens to the mirror. I also could see that the little part of the mirror that is not auto-dimming was blurry as well.

Posted: 9/7/2019 1:17:44 AM EDT

[#8]

Similar here. I now drive a 19 explorer and when using my bino's, the driver side mirror I can get partially focused and the passenger side I can never get focused.

Now my 14 explorer, I could set my bino''s and pvs-14 to the right focus while normal scanning and look at the driver side and be perfectly clear. The passenger side I could adjust the focus and get it clear with both. Ford's done something with their mirrors.

Posted: 9/7/2019 9:38:35 PM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
Pretty sure it's the auto dimming feature for the mirror.

View Quote

My mirrors don't auto-dim and I have the same experience as OP. Unless I missed it, OP hasn't told us whether a near-focus adjustment brings his passenger mirror into focus. It does for me.

Posted: 9/8/2019 10:22:46 PM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:
This is probably the same reason the passenger mirrors are required by law to read "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear"

View Quote

Unless your mirror isn't convex. It took me a long time to get used to a flat mirror on the right on my aftermarket, extendable mirrors.

Posted: 9/8/2019 11:20:49 PM EDT

[#11]

It's just the convex nature of the mirrors, at least in my truck. I took a video for y'all last night. Passenger side is convex, so the focus adjustment must be set to near (meaning the mirror housing itself is in focus). Driver side has small convex blindspot mirror. It acts exactly the same.

Posted: 9/9/2019 1:08:28 AM EDT

[#12]

"Objects are closer than what they appear"

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - curious thing while driving

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