Disclosed herein are light collectors for use in projection applications.
The light collectors gather light from surface emitting sources (e.g.,
LEDs) of differing color (or same color in some embodiments) using input
lightpipes. A light collection system splits the light into orthogonal
linear polarization states and efficiently propagates the light by using
polarizing beamsplitters (PBSs) and a reflecting element to recycle light
at a port of the PBS. Further, the light collection system may
efficiently homogenize the light using an output lightpipe in a lightpath
from the outputs of the PBSs. In addition, the light collection system
may present a single, linear polarization at the output through the use
of a half-wave switch (LC cell) in some embodiments or ColorSelect filter
in other embodiments. The light collection system may be integrated into
a single, monolithic glass, plastic or combination glass/plastic
assembly.