In an active matrix electroluminescent display, a plurality of rows of pixels are illuminated, defining at least two bands of rows separated by a non-illuminated band. The bands of rows of pixels scroll in the column direction over time, and at most 75% of the rows are illuminated at any point in time. This method is in essence a double bar scrolling method. By scrolling two bars, the required peak brightness is reduced as the effective overall duty cycle is increased. However, the period of illumination can still remain short, so that motion perception remains improved. The scrolling speed can be halved for the same frame rate or else the frame rate can be increased to reduce flicker.