Patent ID: 8733978

Claim:
An optical system comprising: a filter wheel rotatable about at least two axes and having a plurality of optical filters coupled thereto, at least one of said filters having a transmission band that varies with the angle of light incident on the filter, a first optical subsystem defining a first light path and arranged such that a beam of light from a first broadband light source passes through a selected one of said plurality of filters at a selected angle of incidence and the filtered light is directed to an object, a second optical subsystem defining a second light path and arranged such that light from a second broadband light source reflects off of a surface of said selected one of said plurality of filters and the reflected light is directed to said object, a control system for rotating said filter wheel about each of said at least two axes, and for controlling said first and second light sources, whereby a user can select to have said object illuminated by said filtered light or by said reflected light, or by both.