Patent ID: 6585378
Filing Date: 2003-07-01
Classification: G02B,H04N

Abstract:
A digital cinema projector for projection of color images onto a display surface comprising:(a) a light source which produces a beam of light; (b) beam shaping optics for homogenizing and focusing said beam of light to provide a homogenized focused light beam; (c) color splitting optics for separating said homogenized focused light beam into a plurality of color beams; (d) a first modulation optical system for modulating a first color beam to provide an image-bearing first color beam, said first modulation optical system comprising: (1) a prepolarizer for prepolarizing said first color beam; (2) a wire grid polarization beamsplitter which transmits a first predetermined polarization state of said prepolarized first color beam and reflects remaining portions of said prepolarized first color beam having a second polarization state orthogonal to said first predetermined polarization state and wherein subwavelength wires on said wire grid polarization beamsplitter face a reflective spatial light modulator; (3) said reflective spatial light modulator having a plurality of individual elements which alter said predetermined polarization state of said transmitted prepolarized first color beam to provide said image-bearing first color beam, which reflects said image-bearing first color beam off of said wire grid polarization beamsplitter; (4) a polarization analyzer which transmits said image-bearing first color beam and attenuates unwanted polarization components of said image-bearing first color beam; (e) a recombination prism which combines said image-bearing first color beam from said first modulation optical system with other image-bearing color beams to provide a full-color image-bearing beam; and (f) a projection lens system for projecting said full-color image-bearing beam onto said display surface.