Patent ID: 6851811

Claim:
A projector that projects an image, the projector comprising: a light source unit that emits condensed light, which is focused at a preset position on a central axis; an integrator rod that has a light entrance plane in a neighborhood of the preset position and uniformizes the light emitted from the light source unit; a color wheel that is located close to a light outgoing plane of the integrator rod; a relay optical system that functions to focus light from the light outgoing plane of the integrator rod into an image on a predetermined illumination area; an electro-optic device that has the predetermined illumination area and generates image light, which represents an image, from light output from the relay optical system to irradiate the predetermined illumination area; and a projection optical system that projects a resulting image corresponding to the image light output from the electro-optic device, a reflecting mirror being formed on the light entrance plane of the integrator rod, the reflecting mirror having an opening about the central axis and a reflecting plane that is formed to surround the opening and reflects light going from the light outgoing plane to the light entrance plane inside the integrator rod, the color wheel having multiple reflection-type color filters, each allowing transmission of a desired color light component and reflecting the other color light components, which are arranged thereon in a spiral form to divide the light output from the integrator rod into multiple color light components and allow transmission of the multiple color light components, the color wheel being rotated about a rotating shaft that is parallel to the central axis to cyclically change divisional areas of multiple color light components included in the light passing through the color wheel, the relay optical system comprising a first optical element for correcting at least a distortion aberration, and a second optical element for correcting at least a chromatic aberration, among aberrations possibly arising in the image of the light focused on the predetermined illumination area.