Patent ID: 6246174
Filing Date: 2001-06-12
Classification: B60Q

Abstract:
A device for controlling a brightness of a dashboard light in a motor vehicle, comprising:an electro-optical transducer aligned in a direction of travel and for producing an output signal that changes a light intensity of the dashboard light as a function of an ambient brightness in front of the motor vehicle, wherein:the electro-optical transducer includes a logarithmic CMOS image-processing sensor having a non-linear conversion characteristic, andthe CMOS image-processing sensor produces a decrease in the output signal of the electro-optical transducer as an increase occurs in an incident light signal;an evaluation unit for weighting the output signal of the electro-optical transducer in accordance with predefined algorithms; anda control unit supplied with the output signal of the electro-optical transducer for influencing the brightness of the dashboard light.