A method and circuit for controlling a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode. A pulse coded modulated signal of a set duration is supplied to the element (LED) so as to cause the element to emit light for a period of time depending on the duration of the signal, the apparent brightness of the element depending on said period of time. The signal can be applied by sequentially activating each of a plurality of bit lines (B0, B1, B2), each comprising a storage node (S0, S1, S2), for a binary weighted period of time.