Patent ID: 8760069

Claim:
A method for operating a high pressure discharge lamp, with the high pressure discharge lamp being operated by a current inverter with a square wave lamp current having a positive phase with positive current flow and a negative phase with negative current flow, and with the current inverter being controlled by a control arrangement, the method comprising the steps of: measuring a value for the positive current flow representing one of a wattage of the high pressure discharge lamp and the square wave lamp current; measuring a value for the negative current flow representing one of the wattage of the high pressure discharge lamp and the square wave lamp current; calculating a first predetermined setpoint value in each case from a guide variable of one of (i) the wattage of the high pressure discharge lamp and (ii) the square wave lamp current and the measured value for the phase with positive current flow; calculating a second predetermined setpoint value in each case from the guide variable of one of (i) the wattage of the high pressure discharge lamp and (ii) the square wave lamp current and the measured value for the phase with negative current flow; and outputting the first and second predetermined setpoint values to the current inverter; wherein a time interval is provided between consecutive setpoint values of the positive and negative phases which is between 1 ms and a few seconds long.