16:10 vs 16:9 pros and cons. Which to pick?

[Jodymac77]

Hi guys! First time poster. I've been reading through some of the great info here and I'm trying to get started on a plan for my sim build. My room is 23 ft deep 15''8 ft wide with 10''2 ceilings. I have a Trackman 4, I'm thinking one of the 10 ft deep DIY enclosures from Carl's, and a 9x4 fiberbuilt mat. Having trouble deciding between 16:10 & 16:9. Pros and cons? I think I have enough room for either. Setup will be used mostly as golf sim maybe some occasional sports or movie watching. I'm also wondering if I should ceiling mount or do a ground mount with a terrashield or a DIY version of something similar? I don't have outlets on the ceiling and would likely need help running wires ect. Your words of wisdom are much appreciated!! Thank you

[Celeras]

Resolution and quality wise it won't make much difference. When people make these decisions for a golf simulator it's usually predicated on the room available and what you're looking for. If home theater is a consideration then 16:9 is the obvious choice because that's what all the content is and your movies would have black bars on 16:10.

Your space is essentially 10x16. If you went 16:10 you'd basically fill all your available space with the screen. If you went 16:9, your screen size would be 9x16ish and you'd be a foot under your ceiling.

My personal preference is to maximize VERTICAL space. Say you had a 9 foot ceiling. If your room was 16 feet wide I'd go 9x16 (16:9). If your room was 12 feet wide I'd go 9x12 (4:3). I'd never consider going 6.8x12 (16:9) for a 12 foot wide room. I want my high lofted clubs hitting the screen as much as possible rather than rely on nets/padding.

[Jodymac77]

Celeras thank you for your response. Good insight. There would be slightly less than a 1ft vertical difference between 16:10 (107.5'') and 16:9 (95.81''). Is 1ft going to be a noticeable difference? Width is basically the same only 3'' difference. My next question would be, does going 16:10 limit the options for projectors?

[Celeras]

There will definitely be more projectors native 16:9 than 16:10, but I'm sure you can find one that would work either way. I don't have any suggestions for 16:10 though. Projector Central is a good resource for research, make sure to pay attention to throw distances and offsets. Golf Sims typically don't want the projector behind where you stand because you'd cast a shadow on your screen.

As for the height, that's just preference so it'd be your call.

[pwade3]

I have a 16:10 screen and an old GT670A projector that did 16:10. It was time to upgrade the projector to 1080p with more lumens. I have been searching for a good projector that was ST and good lumens and 1080p plus would fit in my budget. I came to the conclusion that there were way more options for projectors that were 16:9. I ended up with the GT1080HDR and I am extremely happy with it. I raised the picture slightly off the floor and extended the picture to just be off the sides of the screen so it leaves me with about a 8 inch gap at the top. I have only used it once but I don’t really notice the gap at the top of the screen as much as I thought I would. It looks great and when I lower my ceiling curtain to the top of the image, it will now show as the picture filling the screen. If I want to use it to watch tv I don’t have to adjust the image anymore. I will correctly have the screen resized in the summer. I am extremely happy that I went this route. I also can’t believe the difference in picture quality. I always knew my picture was a little grainy but did not realize it would be such a big improvement but I had nothing to compare to it so expectations were limited.

[Jodymac77]

How far away do you have your projector mounted? The calculator on projector central says 6''5 for 177'' screen for the GT1080HDR. Do you have some type of protection/enclosure for the projector?

[mthunt]

Hi guys! First time poster. I've been reading through some of the great info here and I'm trying to get started on a plan for my sim build. My room is 23 ft deep 15''8 ft wide with 10''2 ceilings. I have a Trackman 4, I'm thinking one of the 10 ft deep DIY enclosures from Carl's, and a 9x4 fiberbuilt mat. Having trouble deciding between 16:10 & 16:9. Pros and cons? I think I have enough room for either. Setup will be used mostly as golf sim maybe some occasional sports or movie watching. I'm also wondering if I should ceiling mount or do a ground mount with a terrashield or a DIY version of something similar? I don't have outlets on the ceiling and would likely need help running wires ect. Your words of wisdom are much appreciated!! Thank you

My room is the exact same size and I went 16:10 and loved it. I switched walls and went down to 16:9. Love it still. lol. Make the screen fit the wall and the image fit the screen and you’ll be fine.

[Jodymac77]

Thank you for the response. Did going to 16:9 make the picture quality any better?

[mthunt]

Image is the same just smaller. The reason I switched was the new wall has a small 8 inch bulkhead on the left side. I switched because beside the other wall is the entrance and I was worried someone would shank the ball.

[Wizard of Coz]

Im 16:9 and watch youtube tv on it. Very cool. Looks great. I haven't ever had 16:10 to compare and really no reason to change from 16:9

[CBearsSB]

It will depend on your projector's capability. 16:10 aspect ratio = 1920 x 1200 pixels = WUXGA projector; 16:9 aspect ratio = 1920 x 1080 pixels = HD Projector. If have WUXGA projector and space then go with 16 x 10 foot screen. If have HD projector then go with 16 x 9 foot screen.

[Jodymac77]

After reading a little more here on the forums and the advice given here there seems to be little difference between 16:10 and 16:9. Since 16:9 gives more options for projectors I will likely go the 16:9 route. Thank you to everyone for the feedback. Now I need to pick a projector. Suggestions are welcomed

[pwade3]

Suggestions are usually budget driven.

[Jodymac77]

AH yes budget would be helpful. I'm willing to go up to the 2k if it's worth the money. I'm leaning towards a floor mount just to make things easier as far as running wires, having power, wouldn't need an electrician ect.