A projection display apparatus includes a light source, a plurality of light modulating elements that respectively modulate different color components of light emitted from the light source, a plurality of light diffusing elements that are disposed on sides near the light source with reference to the respective light modulating elements, a light integrating element that integrates the different color components modulated by the light modulating elements, and a projection optical element that projects light resulting from the different color components integrated by the light integrating element.