Patent ID: 6778228
Filing Date: 2004-08-17
Classification: G02B,G02F

Abstract:
A projector, comprising:a light source; a light valve that modulates light beam from the light source, the light valve including a liquid crystal panel having a plurality of pixels, a first polarizer provided on a light-incident side of the liquid crystal panel and a second reflective polarizer provided on a light-emitting side of the liquid crystal panel, the second reflective polarizer being formed of a multi-layered film transmitting one of a first polarized light and a second polarized light among incident light beam and reflecting the other of the first polarized light and the second polarized light among the incident light beam, the liquid crystal panel being formed by sandwiching a liquid crystal between a first substrate provided on a light-incident side and a second substrate provided on a light-emitting side, and the liquid crystal panel including a plurality of switching elements formed on an inner side of the second substrate, and a light-shielding layer formed between the switching element and a surface of the second substrate; and a projection optical system that projects the light beam modulated by the light valve, the first polarizer transmitting the first polarized light among incident light beam, the liquid crystal panel modulating the first polarized light transmitted through the first polarizer by the pixels and transmitting the modulated light toward the second reflective polarizer, the second reflective polarizer transmitting a part of the incident light beam modulated by the pixels of the liquid crystal panel and reflecting the other part of the incident light beam modulated by the pixels of the liquid crystal panel as a reflected light, the reflected light reflected by the second reflective polarizer being transmitted through the pixels of the liquid crystal panel toward the light source, the multi-layered film, provided on at least one side of a corresponding liquid crystal panel, being formed of alternately laminated layers of first films and second films, the first films having a refractive index in a first axial direction of a film surface which differs from a refractive index in a second axial direction perpendicular thereto, and the second films having a refractive index in the first axial direction and the second axial direction which are substantially equal to the refractive index of the first films in the second axial direction, and the first and second films having thickness set to allow selective transmission of the colored light beam which enters the first films and the second films, and a plurality of the multi-layered films of the light valves having different thickness from each other.