Liquid crystal projector that includes an inorganic polarizer

A liquid crystal projector comprising:

• an illumination system;
• a liquid crystal optical element configured to modulate a light inputted from the illumination system;
• an inorganic polarizer arranged on an emission side of the liquid crystal optical element;
• and
• a projection system arranged on an emission side of the inorganic polarizer and configured to project the light modulated by the liquid crystal optical element on a magnified scale,
• the inorganic polarizer includes
• a substrate,
• a plurality of reflective layers arranged at regular intervals on the substrate,
• a dielectric layer formed on each reflective layer, and
• an inorganic particulate layer formed on the dielectric layer to be shifted in a first direction from a center line that bisects the corresponding reflective layer in a short-side direction,
• at least one of an optical axis of the illumination system and an optical axis of the projection system is shifted with respect to a center axis of the liquid crystal optical element, and
• the projection system is arranged such that the optical axis of the projection system is shifted in a second direction opposite to the first direction from the center axis of the liquid crystal optical element.