Electronic ballasts can tightly regulate whatever parameter their designer wanted. It is true the most inner regulation loop uses to control the arc current. But maybe except fluorescents, the target current is never a constant, but rather is actively steered to reach desired lamp performance. With MH it means stabilizing the pressure the arc operates in, the intention being to maintain the correct ratio of the various luminous components in the fill, so its color. This yields to the use of higher current until the lamp is really warmed up, hence the fast startup. With HPS (and now I'm guessing) the aim would be to maintain the light output, so keep the real power somewhat constant (this then inherently supresses the thermal feedback). That means the warmup follows rather normal settling. Either way the ballast never uses any current above the startup current rating (usually 1.6x nominal arc current), so to not overload the electrodes.
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