+        self._colorconverter = ColorConverter()
+
+        self._backlight_type = None
+        if backlight_pin is not None:
+            try:
+                from pulseio import PWMOut  # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
+
+                # 100Hz looks decent and doesn't keep the CPU too busy
+                self._backlight = PWMOut(backlight_pin, frequency=100, duty_cycle=0)
+                self._backlight_type = BACKLIGHT_PWM
+            except ImportError:
+                # PWMOut not implemented on this platform
+                pass
+            if self._backlight_type is None:
+                self._backlight_type = BACKLIGHT_IN_OUT
+                self._backlight = digitalio.DigitalInOut(backlight_pin)
+                self._backlight.switch_to_output()
+            self.brightness = brightness