Abstract: The present invention provides a lighting system 10 for operating a high intensity discharge (HID) lamp 12, comprising: a converter 200 for converting an input voltage to a DC current; a commutator 202 coupled to the converter for converting the DC current to an alternating drive current; a voltage controlled feedback loop 204 for adjusting said DC current, which is connected between an output and an input of the converter; a processor 206 for controlling the feedback loop, wherein the processor is adapted to adjust a damping level of the feedback loop by controlling a gain level of the feedback loop depending on a measured lamp current. The feedback loop has one or more adjustable gain levels. The processor adjusts the one or more gain levels to limit overshoot or undershoot of the lamp current following drive current transitions. The processor can adjust the gain levels of the VCL using the rising and/or falling transitions of the lamp current.