The present disclosure provides apparatuses and methods for color imaging and an increased field of view using spectrally encoded endoscopy techniques. At least one of the apparatuses includes an illumination unit having two or more spectrally dispersive gratings positioned, for example, on different planes or on the same plane but having grating vectors at an angle to each other such that bands of spectrally dispersed light propagating from the gratings propagate on different planes.
