Patent ID: 8444277

Claim:
A projector comprising: an illumination optical system including a light source that emits a light beam having a center axis coinciding with a system optical axis, first and second light blocking members adapted to partially block the light beam from the light source, and a drive section adapted to make the first and second light blocking members perform an opening and closing operation; a light modulation device illuminated by an illumination light beam from the illumination optical system; and a projection optical system adapted to project the light beam modulated through the light modulation device, wherein: the drive section includes first and second support sections adapted to respectively support the first and second light blocking members, when the corresponding first and second light blocking members are located at a maximum blocking state, with respect to an opening and closing direction of the first and second light blocking members perpendicular to the system optical axis, the first and second support sections are connected to the first and second light blocking members at predetermined positions that are closer to optical-axis-side edge portions of each of the first and second blocking members than midpoints between the optical-axis-side edge portions of the first and second light blocking members and outer edges of the light beam to be blocked, and when the corresponding first and second light blocking members are located at a maximum blocking state, with respect to the opening and closing direction of the first and second light blocking members perpendicular to the system optical axis, the optical-axis-side edge portion of the first light blocking member is a portion of the first light blocking member that is disposed closest to the second light blocking member and the optical-axis-side portion of the second light blocking member is a portion of the second light blocking member that is disposed closest to the first light blocking member.