Patent ID: 8690338

Claim:
A reflective liquid crystal projector, comprising: a light source; a reflective liquid crystal panel that modulates a light beam emitted from the light source; a wire grid polarization beam splitter element that is disposed in a position where the light beam having been modulated with the reflective liquid crystal panel strikes, the wire grid polarization beam splitter element being provided with a polarization beam split surface that reflects a first polarized light component of the modulated light beam and transmits a second polarized light component having a polarization direction that substantially perpendicularly intersects the first polarized light component; a projection optical system that projects the first polarized light component having been reflected by the wire grid polarization beam splitter element; and an aperture stop that is disposed on an optical path of the light beam emitted from the light source, the aperture stop limiting the amount of first light more than the amount of second light, the first light being divergent from the reflective liquid crystal panel to the polarization beam split surface so as to spread in a polarization direction of the first polarized light component, and the second light being divergent from the reflective liquid crystal panel to the polarization beam split surface so as to spread in the polarization direction of the second polarized light component.