Illumination device and display unit

An illumination device, comprising:

• a light source;
• and
• a uniform illumination optical system including a first fly-eye lens that includes a plurality of lenses two-dimensionally arranged and allows light based on emitted light from the light source to pass through the first fly-eye lens, wherein
• light entering the first fly-eye lens has directivity, and
• the first fly-eye lens has an outer shape reference linearly extending along one direction in a portion of its outer edge, and is disposed to allow a periodic direction of an array of the lenses to be inclined with respect to an extending direction of the outer shape reference and to allow the extending direction of the outer shape reference to be substantially parallel to a long-axis direction or a short-axis direction of an intensity distribution shape of the light entering the first fly-eye lens.

An illumination device, comprising:

• a light source;
• and
• a uniform illumination optical system including a first fly-eye lens that includes a plurality of lenses two-dimensionally arranged and allows light based on emitted light from the light source to pass through the first fly-eye lens, wherein
• light entering the first fly-eye lens has directivity, and
• the first fly-eye lens has an outer shape reference linearly extending along one direction in a portion of its outer edge, and is disposed to allow a periodic direction of an array of the lenses to be substantially parallel or substantially orthogonal to an extending direction of the outer shape reference and to allow the extending direction of the outer shape reference to be inclined with respect to a long-axis direction or a short-axis direction of an intensity distribution shape of the light entering the first fly-eye lens.

An illumination device, comprising:

• a light source;
• a uniform illumination optical system including a first fly-eye lens that includes a plurality of lenses two-dimensionally arranged and allows light based on emitted light from the light source to pass through the first fly-eye lens;
• and
• a housing that is allowed to contain the light source and the first fly-eye lens, wherein
• light entering the first fly-eye lens has directivity, and
• a periodic direction of an array of the lenses in the first fly-eye lens is inclined with respect to a mounting surface of the housing.

A display unit provided with an illumination optical system, a light valve, and a projection lens, the light valve that modulates illumination light from the illumination optical system on a basis of an image signal to emit the thus-modulated light, the projection lens that projects the light from the light valve toward a projection surface, the illumination optical system comprising:

• a light source;
• and
• a uniform illumination optical system including a first fly-eye lens that includes a plurality of lenses two-dimensionally arranged and allows light based on emitted light from the light source to pass through the first fly-eye lens, wherein
• light entering the first fly-eye lens has directivity,
• a first reference direction in a planar shape of an illumination target region extends along a direction substantially parallel to a long-axis direction or a short-axis direction of an intensity distribution shape of the light entering the first fly-eye lens, and
• a periodic direction of an array of the lenses in the first fly-eye lens is inclined with respect to the long-axis direction or the short-axis direction.