A method includes obtaining a measurement of a property of a light source, scanning light from the light source onto a surface, such that the light interacts with the surface, detecting light from the surface to create a picture element, and correcting the picture element with the measurement of the property. An apparatus includes a scanned beam display, the scanned beam display is configured to receive a signal and to scan the signal for viewing by a user. The signal is to contain picture element information. The picture element information includes information for a plurality of colors, wherein information for at least one color is corrected to substantially remove a perturbation to the picture element information, such that an image containing the picture element information will be substantially unchanged by the perturbation.