In one embodiment, a color projection system includes a lamp; at least one prism configured to diffract light from the lamp into a diffracted beam; and an LC microdisplay panel or MEMS panel configured to receive the diffracted beam from the at least one prism, wherein by moving the at least one prism with respect to the light from the lamp, the diffracted beam received by the LC microdisplay or MEMS panel sequentially comprises a diffracted red beam, a diffracted blue beam, and a diffracted green beam, the LC microdisplay panel or MEMS panel being configured to sequentially modulate the diffracted red beam into a red sub-frame of an image, the diffracted green beam into a green sub-frame of the image, and the diffracted blue beam into a blue sub-frame of the image.