Method and apparatus for combining light paths of colored light sources through a common integration tunnel

1. An apparatus comprising:

a first light source to emit light of a first color;

a second light source to emit light of a second color;

an integrating tunnel having

an input aperture, on a first surface, to receive the light from the first light source;

a second surface to receive the light from the second light source at a first location; and

an output aperture, to output light from the first and second light sources.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first and/or second light source comprises a solid state light source.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the solid state light source comprises a source selected from the group consisting of a light-emitting diode and a laser diode.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a third light source to emit light of a third color; and

the integrating tunnel to receive the light from the third light source at a second location, and the output aperture of the integrating tunnel to output light from the first, second, and third light sources.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the second location is on the first surface.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a prism to receive the light from the second light source and to transmit the light into the integrating tunnel at the second location.

7. A method comprising:

providing emitted light of a first color, from a first light source, into an input aperture on a first surface of an integrating tunnel; and

providing emitted light of a second color, from a second light source, into a second surface of the integrating tunnel at a first location.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first surface is adjacent to the second surface.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

providing emitted light of a third color, from a third light source, into the integrating tunnel through a second location.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein said providing of emitted light of the first color into the integrating tunnel is done during a first emission period and said providing of emitted light of the second color into the integrating tunnel is done during a second emission period, which is substantially non-overlapping with the first emission period.

11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

transmitting at least a portion of the light of the first color through a dichroic mirror located in the integrating tunnel, towards an output aperture of the integrating tunnel; and

reflecting at least a portion of the light of the second color with the first dichroic mirror towards the output aperture.

12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

emitting the light of the first color from the first light source, which includes a first solid state light source; and

emitting the light of the second color from the second light source, which includes a second solid state light source.

13. A system comprising:

an illumination arrangement including

a first light source to emit light of a first color;

a second light source to emit light of a second color;

an integrating tunnel having

an input aperture, on a first surface, to receive the light from the first light source;

a second surface to receive the light from the second light source at a first location; and

an output aperture, to output light from the first and second light sources; and

an imaging device to receive the light from the illumination arrangement, and to modulate the light.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first and/or the second light source comprises a solid-state light source.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the imaging device comprises a digital micromirror device or a liquid crystal display.

16. The system of claim 13 , further comprising:

a projection lens, to receive the modulated light from the imaging device, and to project an image of the imaging device.

17. The system of claim 13 , further comprising:

a controller configured to receive color image data from a data source and to send control signals to the image device based at least in part on the color image data; and

the imaging device configured to receive the control signals and to modulate the light based at least in part on the control signals.

18. The system of claim 17 , in which the data source comprises a source selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, a set-top box, and an integrated television tuner.