Disclosed is an optical compensator comprising two substantially identical integral optical components, each of the said optical components containing a substrate, an orientation layer, and an anisotropic layer, in that order, wherein the said two optical components are bonded together in parallel so that the anisotropic layer in one component is positioned orthogonally relative to the anisotropic layer in the other about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the substrates. Also disclosed is a process for making such a compensator.