Patent ID: 7746005

Claim:
A circuit arrangement for operating a high-pressure gas discharge lamp, the circuit arrangement comprising: a voltage supply unit having a first terminal, a second terminal and a third terminal; an igniting-circuit circuit arrangement having a capacitor connected via the first terminal and the third terminal to the voltage supply unit, wherein the capacitor is connected in parallel with a primary winding of a transformer by a switching element, and a lamp-circuit circuit arrangement in which the high-pressure gas discharge lamp is connected on one side, via a secondary winding of the transformer, to the first terminal for connection to the voltage supply unit and on another side, via an inductive element, to the second terminal for connection to the voltage supply unit, the inductive element being formed by an air core inductor or rod core inductor having an inductance equal to or less than 20 μH, wherein the primary winding is directly connected to the secondary winding, and a zener diode or a further capacitor connected between the first terminal and the second terminal, wherein the capacitor has a capacitance value from 10 −12 F to 10 −9 F.