In bi-directional imaging, such as bi-directional printing, a driving mechanism scans a light beam through a scan path across an imaging window. A controller enables transmission of video data to a modulator when the light beam is positioned for imaging on the imaging window. Video data is transmitted to the modulator when the light beam is traveling in a forward direction or a reverse direction across the imaging window, whereby a modulated light beam is capable of producing an image when traveling in the forward or reverse directions. The controller adjusts scan durations or image rasterization rates to ensure that each scan is properly aligned with the prior and subsequent scan.