An optically addressable display includes a plurality of receptor and emitter pairs where each pair is for receiving optical display information and for generating light indicative of the display information. Each individual receptor and emitter pair is coupled electrically by an associated control circuit that facilitates driving the emitter so it generates either the received display information or annotation information generated by a light wand that is capable of being optically coupled to individual ones of the plurality of receptors. Each control circuit has a pulse density capture circuit that receives a pulse train signal indicative of a desired brightness or hue levels and drives an individual one of the emitters on and off at a determined duty cycle to produce the desired brightness or hue levels. In another embodiment sets of receptor and emitter pairs are grouped in cells, where each cell is capable of generating N of shades of different colors.