1. An optical assembly, comprising: a wedge optic including an input edge, an angled surface adjacent the input edge, and an unangled surface adjacent the input edge and opposite the angled surface; and an LED lighting system optically coupled to the input edge; wherein unmodulated light from the LED lighting system enters the wedge optic through the input edge; wherein the angled surface reflects the unmodulated light out of the unangled surface to uniformly irradiate a reflective image display to produce an image of modulated light that is reflected back through the unangled surface and the angled surface to transfer optics.