1. A method of operating a scanning laser projector comprising at least one semiconductor laser and scanning optics configured to scan a projected laser beam through a 2D array of image pixels of successive image frames, wherein the method comprises: identifying desired intensity values for groups of neighboring pixels in the 2D array of image pixels, wherein the neighboring pixels of a group lie along separate scan lines of the array and are each characterized by a desired intensity value P; assigning a minimized intensity value P MIN to a selected pixel of a group of neighboring pixels; assigning a compensatory intensity value P* to a remaining pixel of the group of neighboring pixels, wherein the compensatory intensity value P* is selected to compensate for an intensity difference between the desired intensity value P of the selected pixel and the minimized intensity value P MIN of the selected pixel; and displaying an image with the scanning laser projector utilizing minimized intensity values P MIN and compensatory intensity values P* for a plurality of groups of neighboring pixels in successive image frames.