An optical system configured to provide a display for a user, the optical system comprising: a transparent substrate of optical material configured as a waveguide, the waveguide having back side that is located adjacent to an eye of a user when the optical system is in use, and the waveguide having a front side opposite the back side; a polarizing filter positioned on a front side of the waveguide configured to filter stray light, or light from real-world objects, into a first polarization state and being disposed in a forward-facing portion of the optical system upon which stray light or light from the real-world objects impinges; an imager configured to generate one or more optical beams having a second polarization state that is different from the first polarization state; a first diffractive optical element, DOE, disposed on the waveguide, the first DOE having an input surface and configured as an in-coupling grating to receive, from the imager, one or more optical beams having the second polarization state as an input; a second DOE disposed on the waveguide and configured for pupil expansion of the one or more optical beams having the second polarization state along a first direction; and a third DOE disposed on the waveguide and configured to receive the one or more optical beams in the second polarization state from the second DOE, the third DOE configured for pupil expansion of the one or more optical beams along a second direction, and further configured as an out-coupling grating to out-couple, as an output display to the eye of the user from the back side of the waveguide, one or more optical beams with expanded pupil relative to the input, wherein the out-coupling grating is configured for sensitivity to the second polarization state so that only the one or more optical beams in the second polarization state received from the second DOE are out-coupled as the output display to the eye of the user from the back side of the waveguide and the stray light or light from real-world objects in the first polarization state passes through the out-coupling grating without being out-coupled from the back side of the waveguide to the eye of the user to prevent rainbowing in the output display. a transparent substrate of optical material configured as a waveguide, the waveguide having back side that is located adjacent to an eye of a user when the optical system is in use, and the waveguide having a front side opposite the back side; a polarizing filter positioned on a front side of the waveguide configured to filter stray light, or light from real-world objects, into a first polarization state and being disposed in a forward-facing portion of the optical system upon which stray light or light from the real-world objects impinges; an imager configured to generate one or more optical beams having a second polarization state that is different from the first polarization state; a first diffractive optical element, DOE, disposed on the waveguide, the first DOE having an input surface and configured as an in-coupling grating to receive, from the imager, one or more optical beams having the second polarization state as an input; a second DOE disposed on the waveguide and configured for pupil expansion of the one or more optical beams having the second polarization state along a first direction; and a third DOE disposed on the waveguide and configured to receive the one or more optical beams in the second polarization state from the second DOE, the third DOE configured for pupil expansion of the one or more optical beams along a second direction, and further configured as an out-coupling grating to out-couple, as an output display to the eye of the user from the back side of the waveguide, one or more optical beams with expanded pupil relative to the input, wherein the out-coupling grating is configured for sensitivity to the second polarization state so that only the one or more optical beams in the second polarization state received from the second DOE are out-coupled as the output display to the eye of the user from the back side of the waveguide and the stray light or light from real-world objects in the first polarization state passes through the out-coupling grating without being out-coupled from the back side of the waveguide to the eye of the user to prevent rainbowing in the output display.