A projector adapted to switch between a right-eye image and a left-eye image at predetermined timings to output the right-eye image and the left-eye image alternately, includes: a discharge lamp; a discharge lamp drive section adapted to supply the discharge lamp with a drive current for driving the discharge lamp; and a control section adapted to control the discharge lamp drive section, wherein a period between the switching timings temporally adjacent to each other starts with a first period and ends with a second period, and the control section performs a second period alternating-current control process for controlling the discharge lamp drive section so that an absolute value of the drive current becomes relatively small in the first period, and becomes relatively large in the second period, and an alternating current is supplied to the discharge lamp as the drive current in the second period.