US Patent 7651243 Phosphor wheel illuminator

Various embodiments described herein comprise illuminators comprising a phosphor color wheel for producing colored light. Light of a first wavelength emitted by a light source is incident on a phosphor color wheel comprising a plurality of different regions, where at least one of these regions comprises a phosphor that fluoresces at a second wavelength when illuminated with light of the first wavelength. The light from the light source and the different regions of the phosphor color wheel are movable with respect to each other such that as the different regions are illuminated by the light, different colors are produced.