Heads up display systems

1 . An optical system comprising:

an image projector for projecting a collimated image light comprising an image, the image projector comprising:

at least one light source emitting collimated light;

a first reflective polarizer receiving the collimated emitted light at a first incident angle and reflecting at least a portion of the emitted light as a first reflected light; and

a spatial light modulator comprising a plurality of pixels for forming the image, the spatial light modulator receiving the first reflected light at a second incident angle and transmitting at least a portion of the first reflected light as at least a portion of the collimated projected image light comprising the image, the projected image light having a first polarization state;

a first mirror receiving the collimated projected image light at a third incident angle and reflecting at least a portion of the projected image light as a second reflected image light comprising the image; and

a second mirror receiving the second reflected image light comprising the image at a fourth incident angle and reflecting at least a portion of the second reflected image light as a third reflected image light comprising the image for viewing by a viewer,

wherein the image projector comprises the first reflective polarizer disposed between the at least one light source and a third mirror, such that the first reflective polarizer reflects a portion of the emitted light as the first reflected light having the first polarization state and transmits a portion of the emitted light as a first transmitted light having an orthogonal second polarization state, the third mirror receives the first transmitted light at a fifth incident angle and reflects at least a portion of the first transmitted light as a fourth reflected light, the spatial light modulator receives:

the first reflected light at the second incident angle and transmits at least a portion of the first reflected light as a collimated first projected image light comprising at least a first portion of the image and having the first polarization state; and

the fourth reflected light at a sixth incident angle and transmits at least a portion of the fourth reflected light as a collimated second projected image light comprising at least a second portion of the image and having the first polarization state, the first and second projected image lights combine to form the collimated projected image light comprising the image and having the first polarization state;

the at least one light source and the spatial light modulator are disposed on a same side of the first reflective polarizer;

the first incident angle is greater than 30 degrees; and

the second incident angle is greater than 5 degrees.

2 . The optical system of claim 1 further comprising a windshield of a vehicle, the windshield configured to receive the third reflected image light and reflect a portion of the received image toward the viewer such that the viewer can see a virtual image of the reflected image.

3 . The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the fifth incident angle is greater than 30 degrees, and the sixth incident angle is greater than 5 degrees, wherein the first and fifth incident angles are within 5 degrees of each other, and wherein the second and sixth incident angles are within 5 degrees of each other.

4 . The optical system of claim 1 , wherein a divergence angle of the collimated light emitted by the at least one light source is less than 10 degrees.

5 . The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the third incident angle is between 20 to 60 degrees, and the fourth incident angle is between 20 to 60 degrees.

6 . The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the first incident angle is greater than 35 degrees, and the second incident angle is greater than 10 degrees.

7 . A heads up display (HUD) for forming a virtual image of a projected image for viewing by an occupant of a vehicle, the HUD comprising:

an image projector for projecting an image light comprising the image comprising:

at least one light source emitting collimated light;

a first reflective polarizer receiving the collimated emitted light at a first incident angle and reflecting at least a portion of the emitted light as a first reflected light; and

a spatial light modulator comprising a plurality of pixels for forming the image, the spatial light modulator receiving the first reflected light at a second incident angle and transmitting at least a portion of the first reflected light as at least a portion of the collimated projected image light comprising the image, the projected image light having a first polarization state, the image projector centered on a first folded optical axis extending from the at least one light source to the spatial light modulator and comprising a first fold angle greater than 30 degrees; and

projection optics for projecting and forming the virtual image of the projected image, the projection optics comprising:

a first mirror receiving the collimated projected image light at a third incident angle and reflecting at least a portion of the projected image light as a second reflected image light comprising the image; and

a second mirror receiving the second reflected image light comprising the image at a fourth incident angle and reflecting at least a portion of the second reflected image light as a third reflected image light comprising the image for viewing by a viewer; and

a windshield of the vehicle, the windshield configured to receive the third reflected image light and reflect a portion of the received image toward the viewer such that the viewer can see the virtual image of the reflected image,

wherein the image projector is centered on a second folded optical axis extending from the spatial light modulator to at least the windshield and comprising a second fold angle greater than 90 degrees;

wherein for a normally incident light and a visible range extending from 420 nm to 680 nm, the first reflective polarizer has an average reflectance of greater than 70% for a first polarization state and an average transmittance of greater than 70% for an orthogonal second polarization state.

8 . The HUD of claim 7 , wherein the image projector comprises the first reflective polarizer disposed between the at least one light source and a third mirror, such that the first reflective polarizer reflects a portion of the emitted light as the first reflected light having the first polarization state and transmits a portion of the emitted light as a first transmitted light having an orthogonal second polarization state, the third mirror receives the first transmitted light at a fifth incident angle and reflects at least a portion of the first transmitted light as a fourth reflected light, the spatial light modulator receives:

the first reflected light at the second incident angle and transmits at least a portion of the first reflected light as a collimated first projected image light comprising at least a first portion of the image and having the first polarization state; and

the fourth reflected light at a sixth incident angle and transmits at least a portion of the fourth reflected light as a collimated second projected image light comprising at least a second portion of the image and having the first polarization state, the first and second projected image lights combine to form the collimated projected image light comprising the image and having the first polarization state.