Optical system

An optical system for displaying an object to a viewer, comprising:

• one or more optical lenses having at least one curved major surface;
• a reflective polarizer disposed on and conforming to a first major surface of the one or more optical lenses, the reflective polarizer substantially reflecting light having a first polarization state and substantially transmitting light having an orthogonal second polarization state;
• a partial reflector disposed on and conforming to a different second major surface of the one or more optical lenses, the partial reflector having an average optical reflectance of at least 20%;
• a first retarder layer disposed on and conforming to a third major surface of the one or more optical lenses;
• and
• a second retarder layer disposed on and conforming to a fourth major surface, different than the third major surface, of the one or more optical lenses, such that relative to the first polarization state, the first retarder layer has a substantially uniform orientation and uniform retardance across the first retarder layer, and the second retarder layer has a substantially non-uniform retardance and non-uniform orientation across the second retarder layer.