The present invention provides a drive assist display apparatus can make the line of sight easily change between the image views, and display the image views widely with suitable balance, for the purpose of the safety confirmation of backward or forward from a vehicle, and the purpose of the awareness of the limited area around the vehicle at the termination phase of the parking operation. The reference sign 10c indicates an image view showing a wide area behind the vehicle, the reference sign 11c indicates an image view showing an image converted from the image of the area behind the vehicle as if looked down from a virtual viewpoint, and the reference sign 13 indicates an image view drawn with pictures respectively connecting from the sides except the bottom side of the image view 11c to the corresponding sides of the clipped part of the image view 10c to be appeared as continuous from each side of the image view 11c to each side of the clipped part of the image view 10c. The reference sign 12c indicates a mask picture view filling a space among the image views 10c, 11c and 13. The boundaries among the image views 10c, 11c and 13 are drawn with lines to clear themselves among the image views.

The present invention provides a driving assist apparatus (1) for vehicle (C) capable of reducing the computational load of image processing for displaying on a display device an image picked up by an image pick-up device, and suppressing the deterioration in image quality, even if a display screen (3,4) is disposed inclined in the respective three- dimensional directions. The apparatus includes an image pick-up device (2) for picking up an image outside a vehicle, an apparatus body including an installation portion (6) installed to an interior-side surface of a pillar (9) of the vehicle, and a display device provided integrally with the apparatus body and including a display screen disposed on an interior side with respect to the installation portion. An image pick-up element of the image pick-up device is provided such that a roll angle of the image pick-up element is substantially equal to a roll angle of the display screen of the display device.

In a driving assist system of the present invention, a camera driver controls an on-board rear camera to take an image around a vehicle when light-emitting diodes included in tail lamps and brake lamps are in a non-luminous period in response to an image pickup timing signal output from a lamp control part. An image processor performs panoramic view conversion of image data input from the camera driver, stores the converted data in an image memory, and displays a composite image formed by composing a plurality of panoramic view data on a displaying device.

A camera (10) is disposed on a door mirror (14) whose operating position is changeable between a deployed position and a retracted position, so that the positional relationship of the camera (10) with a vehicle body changes as the operating position of the door mirror (14) changes. A region corresponding to the operating position of the door mirror (14) is partially extracted from the entire shot area of an image taken by the camera (10). That is, the angular direction of the region partially extracted from the entire shot area taken by the camera (10) when the door mirror (14) is in the deployed position and the angular direction of the region partially extracted from the entire shot area taken by the camera (10) when the door mirror (14) is in the retracted position are made different from each other by an angle equal to the angle difference between the two positions of the door mirror (14). The camera-taken images of the extracted regions are conformed to the screen of a display (12). Thus, the vehicle traveling direction appearing on the display (12) remains unchanged regardless of changes in the operating position of the door mirror (14).

A vehicle monitoring system capable of suppressing uncomfortable feeling caused by relationships between driver' s own vehicle of the picture image based on the forward view field of the vehicle, which is displayed in the compartment of the vehicle, and the real position of driver's own vehicle. A camera for photographing the backward view field at the first view point is provided in the rear portion of the vehicle. A controller transforms a picture image of the first view point photographed by the camera into a picture image as a second view point different from the first view point. The monitor screen displays the picture image viewed from the second view point that has been transformed. The second view point and an optical axis are set in a vertical surface containing a vehicle main axis.

A camera for taking a state behind a vehicle is installed in a position laterally shifted from the rear center of the vehicle. An image processing unit generates a rear image from a camera image by shifting merely a rectangular area of the camera image so that a vertical center line thereof can substantially accord with the center line along the lengthwise direction of the vehicle. Furthermore, processing for correcting lens distortion may be performed. As a result, when the vehicle is moved straight backward, an object present on the center line of the vehicle moves vertically in substantially the center of the screen, so that a user can be prevented from having an odd feeling to see the image.