White light enters a prism block with dichroic coatings. The first coating reflects blue, the second reflects red, and green continues straight through. Unlike a Newton prism, this device separates colours with selective coatings rather than dispersion.
Blocks like this send red, green, and blue light to three separate sensors in 3CCD cameras. Philips patented one arrangement in 1972. Each colour ends on its own screen here, exposing the complete path through the splitter.
