Patent ID: 8035758

Claim:
An image display apparatus comprising: a first liquid crystal display element corresponding to first color light; a second liquid crystal display element corresponding to second color light different in wavelength band from the first color light; a third liquid crystal display element corresponding to third color light different in wavelength band from the first color light and the second color light; a polarization conversion element which converts the second color light of unpolarized light emitted from a light source into a first linear polarized light; and a light path separation element which separates the second color light from the first and third color light which are emitted from the polarization conversion element, wherein an image is displayed by illuminating the first, the second and the third liquid crystal display elements with the first, the second and the third color light emitted from the light source and passed through the light path separation element, wherein the light path separation element leads a first linear polarized light component of the second color light from the light source to the second liquid crystal display element, wherein the light path separation element leads a second linear polarized light component whose direction of the polarization is orthogonal to the first linear polarized light component of the second color light from the light source, in a direction different from any of the first, the second and the third liquid crystal display elements, and wherein the light path separation element returns the light of the second linear polarized light component of the second color light along the light path of a beam going from the polarization conversion element to the light path separation element.