SHORTENED ASYMMETRICAL TUNNEL FOR SPATIALLY INTEGRATING LIGHT

摘要

A multimedia projector (30, 90) propagates light (32, 74) through a color wheel (42) and an input aperture (70, 102) of an asymmetrical light integrating tunnel (110, 130) that integrates the light into a uniform pattern at a nonrectangular output aperture (92, 114, 132, 134) of the tunnel. In one embodiment, the uniform illumination exiting the nonrectangular output aperture is re-imaged with reduced overfill onto a light valve (50) that is mounted obliquely to a longitudinal axis (112) of the tunnel. In another embodiment, the nonrectangular input and output apertures are spaced apart by a length dimension (136) that is less than five-times the average diagonal dimension of the apertures. A light pattern propagating from the output aperture as uniform as a light pattern propagating from a substantially longer rectangular tunnel.