Patent ID: 8485667

Claim:
An optical element, comprising: a polarizing beam splitter, comprising: first and second prisms; first, second, third, and fourth prism faces; a first reflective polarizer disposed between the first and second prisms; a polarization filter disposed facing the first prism face, capable of changing a polarization direction of at least one selected wavelength spectrum of light without changing a polarization direction of at least another selected wavelength spectrum of light; a second, third and fourth reflective polarizer disposed facing the second, third, and fourth prism faces, respectively; a first, second and third retarder disposed facing each of the second, third and fourth prism faces, opposite the reflective polarizers; and a polarization rotating stack disposed between the third reflective polarizer and the third prism face, the polarization rotating stack comprising: a fourth and fifth retarder; a color-selective dichroic filter that transmits a first wavelength spectrum of light and blocks other wavelengths of light, disposed between the fourth and fifth retarders.