Patent ID: 7417618

Claim:
A lighting apparatus used for lighting an optical modulation device in a projection type display, comprising: a light source, a uniform lighting device which equalizes the illuminance distribution of light shone from the light source, and a dimming device for adjusting the amount of light emitted from the light source, which is arranged on an optical axis of the light emitted from the light source, the dimming device including a shading plate constructed such that at least a portion of light emitted from the light source is cut off, the shaded area of the outgoing beam being adjusted by a movement of the shading plate, the amount of light emitted from the uniform lighting device being adjusted by controlling the dimming device based on the information from outside, and the shading plate being structured to be movable in a direction parallel with the principal plane thereof, and the amount of light being adjusted by the shift amount of the shading plate.