Patent ID: 7316494

Claim:
Lighting unit for vehicles comprising: a plurality of semiconductor light sources ( 3 ) distributed in a grid, the grid of semiconductor light sources being divided into at least two grid segments, the grid segments being each activatable independently of each other; an optical element ( 2 ) in the beam path of a light beam emitted by the semiconductor light sources, the semiconductor light sources ( 3 ) being arranged on a common carrier substrate ( 5 ), with a chip cover ( 6 ) transparent to light in the direction of light propagation, the chip cover ( 6 ) is filled with a light-scattering or light-converting auxiliary material ( 8 ); and a shading device ( 9 ), in the boundary region between one of said grid segment ( 10 ) and another of said grid segment ( 11 ), such said shading device increases a gradient of light intensity at a light/dark boundary.