A video display device includes: a display element displaying images by modulating light from an illumination optical system; and an eyepiece optical system guiding image light from the display element into an optical pupil. The illumination optical system includes: a light source including light emission points arranged substantially linearly; a diffuser plate diffusing illumination light from the light source in a first direction, in which the light emission points are arranged, but not in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and an optical element bending the illumination light such that the optical pupil and the light source are substantially conjugate. The optical element includes an illumination mirror, a reflection surface thereof having a non-zero curvature in all sections including a normal line at the optical-axis intersection. Here, the section perpendicular to the first direction has a different curvature from the section perpendicular to the second direction.