An electroluminescent (EL) device achieves a significant increase in the lifetime of EL light sources by using a driver having a standard DC-to-AC inverter generating a high-frequency quasi-sinusoidal signal, and a generator of low-frequency rectangular pulses. The inverter and the generator are connected so that the quasi-sinusoidal signal is fed to the EL light source in packets. The duration of a packet is equal to the duration of the rectangular pulse. The duration of the rectangular pulses and of the packets remains constant during the entire operating cycle of the EL light source. The duration of intervals between rectangular pulses and between packets is variable, causing changes in the duty cycle, and is determined by the signal passing through a feedback circuit having an EL light source, a photosensitive element, an amplifier, and an input of the rectangular signal generator.