A method of operating a lighting device with a light-emitting component, in which the light-emitting component includes a plurality of pixels configured to illuminate a plurality of zones in a field of view, the light-emitting component includes a processing device including characterization data of the light-emitting component, and the pixels of the light-emitting component are operated as a function of the characterization data, wherein to determine characterization data prior to intended operation of the lighting device an intensity and/or a color location of the emitted light of a pixel or of each pixel is measured as a function of an operating current.