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The image is upright vertically when viewed down from behind, but left and right are interchanged. To track the image formation, let $+x$ point forwards and $+z$ upwards. Incoming light travels along $-x$. The $45^{\circ }$ flip plane mirror sends it along $+z$. Before this reflection, the optical lens has inverted the scene's top into the $-z$ direction; the law of reflection maps that direction into $+x$ on the horizontal screen. The screen's far edge is the top of the picture for someone looking down from behind. The horizontal inversion from the optical lens remains, since this plane mirror does not change the lateral coordinate.

The minimum is two additional plane mirrors, making three including the flip plane mirror. Their reflecting planes can meet at $45^{\circ }$ in the vertical section, as in a pentaprism. For example, in the $xz$ section take the first added reflecting plane at $67.5^{\circ }$ to $+x$ and the second at $112.5^{\circ }$. The upward beam first travels diagonally forwards and upwards, then horizontally backwards towards an eye looking forwards. The two reflections together rotate directions through $90^{\circ }$: the propagation direction $+z$ becomes $-x$, while the screen's top direction $+x$ becomes $+z$ at the eye. Thus the picture remains upright vertically.

One additional plane mirror would also send $+z$ into $-x$, but it would send the top direction $+x$ into $-z$, making the image upside down. This proves minimality for ordinary plane mirrors. The three-reflection arrangement still reverses left and right; correcting that additionally requires a roof arrangement or another suitable image-erecting system. Vertical erection alone is what is asked here.

A plane mirror has a flat reflecting surface. The law of reflection sends incident unit direction $\mathbf{d}$ to $\mathbf{d}-2(\mathbf{d}\cdot \mathbf{n})\mathbf{n}$, where $\mathbf{n}$ is its unit normal. It forms a virtual image of an object the same perpendicular distance behind the reflecting plane as the object is in front. Two successive plane mirrors whose planes meet at angle $\gamma$ rotate the ray geometry through $2\gamma$ about their intersection.