A method for compensating for a shift in color in a light source and a system of color illumination for a projection visual display (PVD) system. In one embodiment, the method includes: (1) field sequentially operating an array of emitters to generate a sequence of light beams, each light beam comprising an uncompensated saturated color, (2) determining a compensated target color from the uncompensated standard color, the compensated target color determined based upon a variation in the uncompensated standard color and variations in at least two other uncompensated standard colors, (3) combining a first light beam of a first color with a second light beam of a second color to produce said compensated target color, the first and second light beams combined in an optical path to travel concurrently, the combination of the first and second light beams resulting in a composite color coordinate and without exceeding the etendue limit and (4) directing the combination of the first and second light beams at the spatial light modulator, said modulator operable to receive the combination and produce a desired color on a display.