Patent ID: 7982954

Claim:
A light collector for a projection system, comprising: a first tapered lightpipe operable to receive light from a first light source; a second tapered lightpipe operable to receive light from a second light source; a polarization beam splitter having first and second input ports and first and second output ports, the first and second tapered lightpipes respectively being optically coupled to the first and second input ports; a polarization rotation element optically coupled to the first output port, wherein substantially all s-polarized light entering the polarization rotation element exits the polarization rotation element as p-polarized light, and wherein substantially all p-polarized light entering the polarization rotation element exits the polarization rotation element as s-polarized light; a reflecting element optically coupled to the polarization rotation element, the reflecting element being operable to direct light from the polarization rotation element; a third lightpipe having a first end optically coupled to the second output port and the reflecting element, the lightpipe being operable to transmit light to a second end; and a wavelength selective retarder stack filter located in a light path exiting the second end, the wavelength selective retarder stack filter being operable to polarize an additive color spectrum along a first axis and its compliment color spectrum along a second axis.