A method for generating an infrared (IR) beam for illuminating a scene to be imaged comprises providing at least two IR emitters, including a first IR emitter operable to emit a wide beam component of the IR beam, and a second IR emitter operable to emit a narrow beam component of the IR beam, wherein the wide beam component has a linear profile that has a lower standard deviation than a linear profile of the narrow beam component. The method also comprises selecting a desired linear profile for the IR beam, and selecting a power ratio of power directed to the first IR emitter and power directed to the second IR emitter that produces the IR beam with the desired linear profile when the narrow beam component and wide beam component are combined; and directing power to the first and second IR emitters at the selected power ratio to generate the wide and narrow beam components, and combining the generated wide and narrow beam components to produce the IR beam.