A wide-angle projection lens is incorporated in an optical engine for use in a short throw distance, front projection display system for a variety of applications. The front projection display deviceincludes an optical engine including an illumination system, an imaging system, and the wide-angle projection lens. The wide-angle projection lens includes a first lens group of negative refractive power that has at least one aspheric surface. The wide-angle projection lens outputs an image at a half field angle of at least 45 DEG , where the image has substantially no distortion. For example, when the first lens group is placed at a distance of less than 1 meter from a viewing screen, the output image has a size of about 40 inches diagonal or greater, and requires substantially no keystone correction. In other aspects, the optical engine can be implemented in a wall-mounted projection system, a multimedia system, a compact integrated monitor system, and a portable projection unit.