The maximum achievable brightness of ac thin film electroluminescent devices is determined by the maximum transferable charge and the maximum efficiency of electroluminescence η. The first is controlled by the charge at breakdown of the insulator, whereas the latter is determined by the properties of the semiconductor layer. By a factorization into partial efficiencies η = ηexcηoptηlum characterizing the three independent fundamental processes involved in these structures, (i) impact excitation of centers, (ii) radiative decay of excited centers, and (iii) outcoupling of emitted photons, some insight ino the limiting physical mechanisms is obtained. The efficiency in ZnS : Mn is limited via ηlum by an influence of non‐radiative decay channels which increases with the Mn concentration N and the concentration of excited centers N* In the concentration range (N) of practical interest ηexc is shown to be controlled by σMn2+N, where σMn2+ is the impact cross‐section of Mn2+. The limiting factor is the cross section which is determined by a very straight‐forward evaluation from experimental data to be σMn2+ = 3.7 × 10−16 cm2. The time behaviour of ηexc within the excitation pulse is measured with a submicrosecond resolution and the results give some hints on spatial inhomogeneities — grown‐in and operational ones. Numerical estimates of the maximum achievable brightness show that there is not much improvement possible within the ZnS: Mn system using present day insulator technology.