Projection system with rotatable anamorphic lens

Embodiments of a projection system having a rotatable anamorphic lens are disclosed. In an embodiment, an optical projection system includes: a light source; an optical integrator configured to receive light from the light source and distribute a uniform light pattern; a relay lens system comprising two or more rotatable anamorphic lenses oriented about an optical axis to transform the uniform light pattern into an image having a specified aspect ratio; at least one spatial light modulator configured to receive the image and to direct the spatially modulated image along an optical path; and at least one projection lens configured to receive the spatially modulated image from the optical path and project the spatially modulated image onto an image plane at the specified aspect ratio. In the DLP projection system, the relative angle of the two or more rotatable anamorphic lenses is less than 90 degrees to pre-distort the image to form a more rectangular spatially modulated image having a specified aspect ratio.