Patent ID: 8242425

Claim:
A projector comprising: first and second lamps arranged at different positions from each other and each configured to emit a light; a combining member configured to combine the light from the first and second lamps in a state of being inclined with respect to each other; a light modulation device arranged on the downstream side of an optical path of the combining member, configured to be able to be illuminated by the light from at least one of the first and second lamps, and configured to provide higher modulation contrast with respect to the light emitted from the first lamp and entering in a state of being inclined in a first direction with respect to a system optical axis than modulation contrast with respect to the light emitted from the second lamp and entering in a state of being inclined in a second direction which is different from the first direction with respect to the system optical axis; and an illumination control device configured to turn ON the first lamp having the higher contrast with respect to the light modulation device on a priority basis for illumination of the light modulation device in a one-lamp mode in which only one of the first and second lamps is turned ON.