Windshield question

Anyone knows why the 'tinted' area around the edge of the windshield is comprised of little dots?
Also, why is the strip of dots by the passenger A-pillar thicker than those on the driver's side (uhm)

I don't know. I've been wondering the same thing.

I don't recall all the details off-hand right now, but it's a form of sun/light reduction/blocker that purposely allows a certain amount of light in but not all of it.

As for why it's thicker on one side, Mazda would have made that decision in conjunction with its glass supplier (Saint-Gobain for Mazda5 I believe) based on the design of the vehicle.

For the dot pattern, it's pretty much the common standard pattern for this type light reduction/blocking, so you'd find the dot pattern on other makes and models as well.

i own a glass business and have installed alot of windshields. so this is the thing, the dots are meant for a sort of "visor" effect. some vehicles(mainly trucks w/ higher end packages) have a whole area of the "dots" right over the rear view mirror. this is called the "third visor". it's pretty much a cheap way to solve the problem of sun light coming through the area between the headliner and the top of the mirror because some vehicles are taller in the driver compartment area than others so the windshield mounted mirror is placed lower for the driver to view. this causes more area for light to come through. as for the Mazda and any other vehicle depending on where the vehicle was assembled that would determine the brand and functioning design of the windshield and it's "dots" because they don't always stick with one distributor. different brand name= different design the dots design on your car now is just meant to deflect more glare from the driverside. if you came to me to get the window replaced i could get it from 4 or 5 different brands and about just as many options from each. ranging from glass color(blue,green,clr.) to the shade color (blue,green,clr.) well i hope everyone here can now get a little more rest without the sleepness nights of pondering the burning questions of the Mazda.
later

I work at Guardian (www.guardian.com) who makes the glass for almost everything (but mazda). Six is right, since they were screen printing the part anyway it literally costs about 1 penny or less to paint that area where the mirror button is. It does create a visor effect and the little dots are just the standard automotive pattern. It blocks some of the sunlight, shades the urethane seals from all of the light\heat. Some companies paint a completely solid frit (no dots, just all black) near the mirror button as a shade, but mazda decided to keep some of the visibility. The reason the dots are much bigger on the "a" pillers is simple, the driver wont be looking at it up close and the dots wont obscure his vision even if they were bigger. Its all about the AS1, AS2, and AS3's. AS1 is a windshield and you will see a little as1 writtenabout 6 inches from the top of the windshield...basically means they arent allowed to shade below the mark. Also AS1 are laminated for your safety. AS2 is a side lite, (tempered to be able to shatter in a million pieces to not hurt you, its to your driver's left and right side. Visibility is important on those but not as much as the AS1. AS3's are side lites or back lites and pretty much have alot less rules, you can paint them almost completely, put big old dots. Some companies use the paint to hide things their engineers did when they designed a vehicle and didnt think it through. Ahh well, thats more than anyone ever needed to know about automotive glass!

Oh yeah, the quality of the glass is ok on the mazda, its made well, but the frit dots being diff sizes is just dumb design, and the final logo that they paint\sand blast on the driver and passenger windows arent parallel to the door jams, which is REALLY SLOPPY. It kind of annoys me but it IS purely cosmetic, as the glass is made well.