Patent ID: 7222968

Claim:
An illumination system comprising: a plurality of illumination channels of different colors, each illumination channel comprising a bank of light sources having at least one optical element having optical power; and an image-forming device disposed to receive illumination from at least one of the illumination channels; wherein at least one of the optical elements of at least one of the illumination channels is not shared with other illumination channels and that optical element is preferentially constructed or preferentially positioned for the color of its illumination channel, such that said optical element decreases the performance of its illumination channel when said optical element is constructed or positioned as a corresponding element of another illumination channel; and wherein at least one of the banks of light sources comprises a plurality of light sources incorporated into an assembly of reflectors and the assembly of reflectors is the at least one optical element that is preferentially constructed or preferentially positioned for the color of its illumination channel.