Patent ID: 6443576
Filing Date: 2002-09-03
Classification: G03B

Abstract:
A projector for projecting and displaying an image, comprising:an optical modulation device that controls a direction of emission of illumination light applied to a substantially rectangular light application surface, including a plurality of pixels, for each pixel according to image information to thereby emit image light representing an image; an illuminating optical system that emits the illumination light so that the central axis of the illumination light applied to the light application surface enters the light application surface at a predetermined angle; and a projection optical system that projects image light emitted from the optical modulation device, the illuminating optical system comprising: an optical element such that an outline shape of an emitting surface is a quadrilateral having first and second diagonal lines of different lengths, and when the illumination light emitted from the optical element obliquely enters the light application surface at the predetermined angle, the quadrilateral is set so that the ratio of two diagonal lines of a quadrilateral illumination region to which the illumination light is applied is closer to 1 than the ratio of the lengths of the first and second diagonal lines.