Patent ID: 6529250
Filing Date: 2003-03-04
Classification: G02B,G02F

Abstract:
A projector, comprising:an illumination optical system including a light source and a polarization converter; a colored-light separator that separates light beam from the illumination optical system into a plurality of colored light beams; a plurality of light valves that modulate the colored light beams separated by the colored-light separator, each of the light valves including a liquid crystal panel and a reflective polarizer provided on a light-incident side of an associated liquid crystal panel, the reflective polarizer 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; a synthesizing optical element that synthesizes the light beams modulated by the plurality of light valves; and a projection optical system that projects the light beam synthesized by the synthesizing optical element, the polarization converter, provided between the light source and the colored-light separator, aligning at least most of the light beam from the light source with light beam capable of transmitting through the reflective polarizer, and emitting light beam including the aligned light beam toward the reflective polarizer through the colored-light separator, the reflective polarizer transmitting most of the incident light beam emitted from the polarization converter so as to enter the liquid crystal panel and reflecting small amount of light among the incident light beam so as to return toward the illumination optical system as a reflected light, and the illumination optical system further including a collimating optical element, the collimating optical element being provided between the light source and the reflective polarizer and substantially collimating the light from the light source.