The invention relates to a lighting device (10) with at least four light emitters (1 IR, 1 IG, 1 IB, 1 IW) of different primary colors that shall be controlled according to given primary target values, for example target values for the color point (x, y) and flux (Φ). This object is achieved by determining secondary target values, for example for the total power consumption (P) of the light emitters, that are in accordance with primary target values and with the possible control commands (r, g, b, w) (e.g. duty cycles between 0% and 100%). By fixing the secondary target values, the control commands for the light emitters can uniquely be determined, in preferred embodiments by a simple matrix multiplication.