The technology provides a waveguide display having a compact projection light engine and a diffractive waveguide. The diffractive waveguide includes input diffraction gratings with rolled k-vectors. The projection light engine provides collimating light to a projected exit pupil external to the diffractive waveguide. The projection light engine components may include a light (or illuminating) source, a microdisplay, a lenticular screen, a doublet, a polarizing beam splitter (PBS), a clean-up polarizer, a fold mirror, a curved reflector and a quarter waveplate. A method of manufacturing the diffractive waveguide includes providing input gratings with rolled k-vectors. Rays of light are diffracted by, and passed through, a master hologram to form input diffraction gratings of a copy substrate. A second copy substrate may likewise be formed with a different master hologram. Multiple copy substrates may be assembled to form a multi-layer diffractive waveguide (or multiple diffractive waveguides) having input diffraction gratings with increased diffraction efficiency and angular bandwidth.