A light-output system (1), for forming a controllable pattern (10) of illuminated spots (11a-b) in a distant projection plane (3). The light-output system (1) comprises a plurality of individually controllable light-output devices (6a-c) arranged in an array (5) of light-output devices with a light-output device pitch (PLS), and an optical system (7) arranged between the array (5) of light-output devices and the projection plane (3). The optical system (1) is configured to project light emitted by the array (5) of light-output devices in the projection plane (5) as a projected array of illuminated spots (11a-c) having a projection pitch (Pspot) that is larger than the light-output device pitch (PLS). Using this light-output system, practically all of the luminous power output by the light-output devices is used for projecting the light patterns.