In the present invention a novel method and device for measuring characteristics from a relatively weak signal comprising desired and undesired components is presented. Undesired signals may arise from the nature of the characteristic, from the detector or from the circuitry. The signal is extracted from a first measurement element (1) comprising these desired and undesired components. Using another signal from this first measurement element or from another second measurement element (2) the undesired components can be eliminated. The measurement method is extremely useful when using organic materials for the detectors, electronic circuitry, and measurement elements. These devices can be produced relatively cheap, but less reliable. They can also be combined in a one- or two-dimensional array for measuring characteristics over a larger area.