A lidar system comprises a light source to emit pulses of light, a scanner, a receiver, and a controller. The scanner includes a rotatable polygon mirror with reflective surfaces, the reflective surfaces being angularly offset from one another along a periphery of the block. The scanner further includes a polygon mirror axle extending into the block, about which the block rotates, a rotary encoder having a rotational component with an axis of rotation aligned with the polygon mirror axle, the rotational component having one or more characteristics configured to cause the rotary encoder to return a signal, and a second mirror pivotable along an axis orthogonal to the polygon mirror axle. The controller is configured to determine a rotational parameter of the polygon mirror in response to the signal returned from the rotary encoder.