Patent ID: 7023602

Claim:
An optical imaging system comprising: a) an illumination system providing a beam of light, the illumination system having an f/# less than or equal to 2.5; b) a Cartesian polarizing beam-splitter having a first tilt axis, oriented to receive the beam of light, wherein the Cartesian polarizing beam splitter nominally polarizes the beam of light with respect to the Cartesian beam-splitter, wherein a first polarized beam of light having a first polarization direction is folded by the Cartesian polarizing beam splitter and a second polarized beam of light having a second polarization direction is transmitted by the Cartesian polarizing beam splitter; c) a color separation and recombination prism optically aligned to receive one of the polarized beams of light, said prism having a second tilt axis, a plurality of color separating surfaces, and a plurality of exit surfaces, wherein the second tilt axis is oriented perpendicularly to the first tilt axis of the Cartesian polarizing beam-splitter so that the polarized beam is nominally polarization rotated into the opposite polarization direction with respect to the color separating surfaces and a respective beam of colored light exits through each of the exit surfaces; and d) a plurality of polarization modulating imagers, each imager placed at one of the exit surface of the color separating and recombining prism to receive one of the respective beams of colored light, wherein each imager can separately modulate the polarization state of the beam of colored light incident on said imagers.