Patent ID: 7125120
Filing Date: 2006-10-24
Classification: H04N,Y10S

Abstract:
1. An illuminator, comprising: a light source that supplies light; a rod integrator that generally uniformizes a luminous intensity distribution of the light supplied by the light source; a reflective polarizing plate, positioned on an emitting side of the rod integrator, that allows a polarized light of a particular oscillating direction to penetrate and that reflects polarized light of any oscillating directions other than the particular one; and a color filter that allows the light of a particular wavelength range to penetrate and that reflects the light of any wavelength ranges other than the particular wavelength, among the light that has penetrated the reflective polarizing plate; the rod integrator being further provided with an injection end on a light source side, an aperture formed in the injection end that lets in the light supplied by the light source, a reflecting part formed around the aperture, and an emitting end on a side of the reflective polarizing plate; the reflecting part reflecting the polarized light, that has been reflected by the reflective polarizing plate and re-entered into the rod integrator through the emitting end to progress toward the injection end, in the direction toward the emitting end; and the reflecting part further reflecting the light of any wavelength ranges other than the particular wavelength, which has been emitted through the emitting end and reflected by the color filter to re-enter the rod integrator and progress toward the injection end, in the direction toward the emitting end; and a lens assembly being placed in a light path between the reflective polarizing plate and the color filter, and the lens assembly lighting up the color filter in a telecentric manner with the light emitted from the emitting end of the rod integrator so that a main beam from the reflective polarizing plate is substantially parallel to an optical axis of light injected in the direction substantially perpendicular to the color filter.