An optical system configured for imaging an object with the use of two independently-scanning reflectors, the optical system having an optical axis and including: first and second scanning reflectors, the first scanning reflector being configured to scan a beam of light incident thereon in a first plane, the second scanning reflector being configured to scan a beam of light incident thereon in a second plane, and the first and second planes being transverse to one another; and a catadioptric afocal relay system disposed along the optical axis in optical communication with, and between, the first and second scanning reflectors, the catadioptric afocal relay system being configured to image one of the first or second scanning reflectors onto another of the first or second scanning reflectors, in light propagating along the optical axis, with a unit magnification, and the catadioptric afocal relay system including only one reflector.

A virtual image display device of the invention includes an image display element configured to emit image light, a relay optical system configured to generate an intermediate image of the image light emitted from the image display element, and an ocular optical element configured to reflect the intermediate image toward a position assumed to be a position of an eye of an observer to generate an enlarged virtual image. The relay optical system includes a prism, and the prism includes a first bending surface including a bending surface and serving as an incident surface, a second bending surface including a bending surface and serving as an emission surface, and a reflecting surface configured to reflect, toward the second bending surface, the image light incident from the first bending surface.

The present invention is intended to provide an adaptive optics system and an optical device that allow correction of wavefront phase aberration with higher accuracy than before and have a wider correction range than the conventional ones, regardless of the distance between the observation target and the fluctuation layer, and the size of the observation target. An adaptive optics system includes: a wavefront phase modulator that makes aberration correction to incident light and emits the corrected light; and an imaging-conjugated position adjustment mechanism that adjusts freely within a specimen the position of a surface imaging-conjugated with a fluctuation correction surface formed by the wavefront phase modulator. The imaging-conjugated position adjustment mechanism adjusts the fluctuation correction surface to be imaging-conjugated with a fluctuation layer existing in the specimen.

A projection optical system that enlarges and projects an image displayed on an image display includes: a first optical system; and a second optical system. The projection optical system is a monofocal lens or a zoom lens. The first optical system and the second optical system are arranged, in order starting with the first optical system, from an enlargement side of the projection optical system. The second optical system forms an intermediate image of the image between the first optical system and the second optical system. The first optical system enlarges and projects the intermediate image. The first optical system includes: a first-A optical system and a first-B optical system in order from the enlargement side; and a reflecting optical element that bends a light path between the first-A optical system and the first-B optical system.

Methods and apparatus relating to a camera including one or more optical chains with a light redirection device, e.g., mirror, and an outer protective cover are described. The cover maybe a flat or sloped surface or a lens. Features avoid stray light rays from reaching an image sensor of an optical chain. In some but not all embodiments a 2-sided anti-reflection coating is used on the cover to avoid or reduce back reflections from the cover into the optical system. In some embodiments mirror angles are limited to a range in which stray light reflections are directed away from the camera module. In some embodiments a tilted cover configuration is used where the cover is sloped relative to a face of the camera and/or camera module. Different features such as the sloped cover glass, control of mirror angle, and/or antireflective coating can be used alone or in combination.

The present disclosure provides an optical imager and a method for imaging electromagnetic radiation. In one aspect, the optical imager includes an object array substantially located at an object plane, a first catadioptric element configured to substantially collimate, at a central plane, electromagnetic radiation emanating from the object array, a second catadioptric element configured to image the substantially collimated electromagnetic radiation from the central plane onto an image plane, and a detecting element substantially located at the image plane. The first catadioptric element includes at least one refractive surface and at least one reflective surface, and the second catadioptric element includes at least one refractive surface and at least one reflective surface.

A projection lens is separated by a second mirror into a first optical system that is disposed so as to be closer to an image forming panel and a second optical system that includes the second mirror and is disposed so as to be closer to a screen which is a projection surface. The second optical system is held rotatably around a second optical axis with respect to the first optical system by a first rotation mechanism. A rotation angle of the second optical system with respect to the first optical system is detected by a first sensor. A tilt angle of the projected image on the projection surface by the rotation angle is obtained by a tilt correction section, and the display position of the image to be displayed on the image forming panel is corrected according to the tilt angle.

An imaging optical mechanism includes a first concave mirror and a second concave mirror at a position shifted from the first concave mirror in a sub-scanning direction. A plurality of aperture members in which slits are formed is disposed between the first concave mirror and the second concave mirror. The first concave mirror reflects light incident from an original document so as not to be imaged at a position between the first concave mirror and the second concave mirror in the sub-scanning direction, and reflects light incident from the original document so as to be imaged at the position between the first concave mirror and the second concave mirror in a main scanning direction. The second concave mirror reflects light which is reflected by the first concave mirror and incident thereto, so as to be imaged at a position of a sensor.

A cloaking device includes an object-side, an image-side, and a cloaked region (CR) between the object-side and the image-side. An object-side CR reflection boundary, an object-side half-mirror, and an object-side external reflection boundary are positioned on the object-side, and an image-side CR reflection boundary, an image-side half-mirror, and an image-side external reflection boundary are positioned on the image-side. The object-side half-mirror and the object-side external reflection boundary are spaced apart and generally parallel to the object-side CR reflection boundary, and the image-side half-mirror and the image-side external reflection boundary are spaced apart and generally parallel to the image-side CR reflection boundary. Light from an object located on the object-side of the cloaking device and obscured by the CR is redirected around the CR via two optical paths to form an image of the object on the image-side of the cloaking device.

Methods and apparatus for implementing a camera having a depth which is less than the maximum length of the outer lens of at least one optical chain of the camera are described. In some embodiments a light redirection device, e.g., a mirror, is used to allow a relatively long optical chain with a relatively large non-circular outer lens. In some embodiments the light redirection device has a depth, e.g., front of camera to back of camera dimension, which is less than the maximum length of the aperture of the outer lens in the aperture's direction of maximum extent. Multiple optical chains with non-circular outer lenses arranged in different directions may and in some embodiments are used to capture images with the captured images being combined to generate a composite image.