Crisp and clear picture, cloth over impact screen.

[William Jenkins]

Just thought I would share my experience with something I tried. When building my enclosure I went with a 10x9 size. Ordered a 10x10 impact screen from Supertex. It's very rigid and durable, but also has a slight waffle pattern to it. So I added a polyester photo drop screen in front of the impact, I know most people do this with a black cloth and white cloth behind it, I tried the front on a whim

It's been over 4 months since I've had it this way and I couldn't be happier. I get a nice clean picture from the projector and there isn't a single mark or year after about 750 shots.

Link to the drop cloth, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R45YHMT..._CfJkFbYM9HV46

[Agolfman]

Looking good. Have had a few days of hitting balls into this new “screen” and it has been great. No issues, seems durable and the image is at least 50% better/brighter. Great bang for the buck investment!

[CCollier93]

Definitely going to try this out. Haven't really paid much attention to image quality on my screen until recently when I had some buddies over for the first time and had to spend more time at the PC helping them adjust things and in doing so noticed how "washed" the image on my Carl's preferred screen is compared to the PC.

Very timely - thank you, William, for the original post, and to the rest for sharing experience and pics.

[Jerome]

300+ shots, no tears or holes. I can see some dimples from the night before.

Side note on wrinkles, regular ironing board + steam flat iron works great to get packing wrinkles out.

[Shinaut]

Did anybody use velcro to attach the impact screen. Would that even be necessary? Would it help reduce waves/wrinkles?

[William Jenkins]

Mine kind of just sticks to it via static, I do attached it on all sides with tarp clips.

[tntfox]

William, did your screen get a lot louder after you added the photo backdrop? Mine started sounding like I was hitting into a paper bag (like a cracking sound) after I hung the photo backdrop in front of my impact screen. I have to keep the volume down since my sim is between my daughters bedrooms.

[Patator100]

Hi all

I have to say big thanks to all for the advise.
I redid my cage (50cm wider and taller) and before buying a Carl’s premium like screen, I ordered alll stuff from Amazon this week and just finished installing the screen. What an amazing result, unbelievable for this price (I left my PR-20 archery screen behind the new 30€ screen).
I have used Velcro to make sure the curtains and the top black material would perfectly stick on the screen (I had to staple the Velcro as the auto-adhesive on the Velcro was garbage.
I definitely recommend this solution.

some pictures attached before and after

[runpuddrun]

what curtains and/or side netting is that? how did the photo screen hold up? after reading through this thread it seems mixed reviews. Thinking about the daizan screen or carls.

[Jerome]

Seems very high spin shots cause the most damaged on my set up. Dimples and now a hole appear high up on my screen.

[Jerome]

From back to front my very non-standard :-) "screen" setup is:
1/2" plywood.
1 1/2" memory foam.
area carpet
6" air gap
Two, lose hanging golf nets that go all the way to the floor loosely anchored on the sides.
Two, hanging heavy duty poly tarps(smooth) soft bungee anchored on the sides.
One, White Photo Backdrop Polyester Photography Chromakey Background Cloth attached only at the top.

The tarps, before I added the photo clorth, took 1000s of shots and tore right away but only on low launch shots.

[William Jenkins]

I've hit 1000+ balls into mine, no tears, maybe some dimples but they go away. I do hit some shots that are 10,000+ spin and still nothing. But I am a just a hacker and may not have the same ball speed as you.

[jpotas]

I am hack myself, so I don't exactly crush it. But I have to say that I tried the new screen today and the difference was negligible. The light colors were lighter but I don't think it looked any better. The big difference was the noise level, right now I almost don't even here a ball hit my screen. The new screen was LOUD, a very loud WHACK when it hits the screen. I took it down and I am returning it. I will post some pics in a separate post in a few minutes.

[jpotas]

Two pics with the new screen folded and clipped so that you can see the original impact screen as well as the $30 screen side by side. Impact is on the left/bottom side. Not much difference, light colors were a little bit lighter but for me not worth the bother. The noise level was incredibly higher with the new screen in use, a very, very loud WHACK when the ball hit it. A clarity difference was really not noticeable.

[Scottygolf]

Jpotas - your a lucky one that has a good screen or projector but I agree there is not much a difference for you. For me, it was noticeable improvement. I would agree, the sound did in fact increase. I am wondering if I loosen it a little if that will quiet it some. But for the $30, well worth it.

[jpotas]

I had it hanging loose, pretty much flat against my impact screen. So, not tight at all. It was extremely loud, maybe due to the room being closed and insulated.

Just not right for me, but obviously perfect for others.

[wbond]

What type of impact screen do you have?

Two pics with the new screen folded and clipped so that you can see the original impact screen as well as the $30 screen side by side. Impact is on the left/bottom side. Not much difference, light colors were a little bit lighter but for me not worth the bother. The noise level was incredibly higher with the new screen in use, a very, very loud WHACK when the ball hit it. A clarity difference was really not noticeable.

[jpotas]

It is a Carl's preferred, bought it in 2017. It has held up well. Used Almost Golfballs for just under 3 years with an Optishot2 and real balls for just over a year (upgraded to Skytrak). I have about 12,000 practice shots and an additional 130 rounds of golf hit into it with real balls. Getting ready to rotate it due to minor fraying starting to show. I should get 3 rotations on it based on my impact area.

[Brettster]

jpotas - So the sound is louder with the $30 drop cloth? I'm not sure the way you worded it... I've wondered this myself, and the main reason I would use it would be to brighten up the image - but not sure it will do anything behind an archery netting? I plan on archery netting, then drop cloth and will alternate behind archery netting, and in front of archery netting. I have to find the quieter solution, that loud screen 'whap' drives me nuts!

[jpotas]

I draped the new screen right down the front of my impact screen, so the ball was hitting the new screen first.

[Scottygolf]

Same here, the new $30 screen is right in front of my archery netting. I will trade the increase of noise to the better image quality all day but then again I am in the garage. Still to me one of the better finds to improve experience.

[Agolfman]

jpotas - So the sound is louder with the $30 drop cloth? I'm not sure the way you worded it... I've wondered this myself, and the main reason I would use it would be to brighten up the image - but not sure it will do anything behind an archery netting? I plan on archery netting, then drop cloth and will alternate behind archery netting, and in front of archery netting. I have to find the quieter solution, that loud screen 'whap' drives me nuts!

Alos dropped mine right in front and found that both the image as well as the sound was improved. It's more of a muffled sound than before, if that helps.

[tntfox]

Ok, so I finally hung my photo backdrop in FRONT of my impact screen and tested it. I agree with William Jenkins that it does provide a really crisp, clear picture but in my case, the volume of the impact increased dramatically. I did not see any negative effects of a ball hitting the photo backdrop, but with that fabric in front of my Carl's Premium impact screen, it sounds like the ball is hitting a paper bag. I have included a video that shows a shot going into both the photo backdrop and the impact screen by itself. It may be kind of hard to tell, but the photo backdrop produces a cracking sound where the impact screen is a much quieter thump.

I think the photo backdrop might be perfect in front of an archery baffle or maybe mine just needs to be anchored better. I only have it clipped to the top, horizontal EMT for the test. I am VERY impressed how tough that fabric is given that it feels about 1/10th of the weight of my impact screen, but I can't use it as it is just too loud. I would be interested to hear if anyone else found this same issue with the photo backdrop.

The video below was produced by my daughter (the one with the awesome swing) and it repeats the swing with and without the photo backdrop. I promise that the sound with the new material was much louder than the impact screen, but the video doesn't do it justice. Turn the volume up on the video for the best effect.

Just wanted to add one more thing I noticed after I watched this video. What you hear after impact that sounds like the ball hitting a hard surface is actually coming from the ball falling behind my lower protector and hitting the EMT.

[tntfox]

I would say that the picture quality is quite a bit better on the photo backdrop as the weave of the material is much tighter than on the impact screen. From 10 feet away, they look pretty similar but when you get up close, the text is much clearer on the photo backdrop. I think that @14MPH is probably right, the noise is probably being generated by the ball compressing the photo backdrop into the impact screen which means its also compressing the air between the layers.

Interestingly, when I put a heavy vinyl tarp directly behind my impact screen, it was also ridiculously loud. I think I will have to stick with four layers: 1 is the impact screen, 2 is the heavy mesh, 3 are moving blankets, and 4 is my vinyl tarp. Im only using the tarp in the last layer because I poked holes in it for grommets. I didn't really need it.

[Brettster]

Great video, yeah I hear the difference. So for you, because you have a high-end screen it's not going to do much, did it increase picture quality? I think this is a better option for an Archery screen, and also the archery screen gives you the chance to hang it behind the archery screen, should still improve image?

[tntfox]

Brettster, It did increase picture quality. I took a couple close-up pictures of the text on both materials. I think archery baffle might work great as I have heard other guys say that impacts are almost silent on that material. I don't know that hanging the photo backdrop behind an archery baffle will have much image effect but its worth a try! I have also seen a place in San Francisco that had fine, but strong, net in front of the impact screen. It made the image look more pixelized, but they said the needed it to prolong the life of the screens as this was a public indoor range. I'm pretty sure the Golf Channel's sim has a front net too.

[14MPH]

I wonder if the 2 surfaces (both tightly woven to some extent but different yarn density) end up like “clapping of hands” when struck with a high velocity golf ball. I’ve not ordered impact screen but keen to know from other’s experiences if same loud volume results when using the photography backdrop cloth with baffle netting. Also, do other acoustic factors in the room aid in lowering the loudness eg a mattress topper or moving blankets behind the archery netting? The things we do to get that nirvana sim set up!!

[Brettster]

Probably, wondering about the drop cloth being hung behind an archery screen... wonder if that wold be 'as quiet' as plain archery screen AND if it would give a better/clearer screen image?

[tntfox]

I think you're right about the clapping theory. It was much louder than I was expecting. In my video, you can hear my daughter saying "geez!" as she was startled by the sound.

As for backing material, it absolutely does deaden the sound tremendously. In addition, it dramatically reduced rebound and screen deformation. I had a big dent in my impact screen until I added backing material. I have posted many times about the incredible value of the Harbor Freight moving blankets so I highly recommend shopping there vs HomeDepot or Lowes. In the video, we pumped up the volume to try to illustrate the difference between the two setups and it makes the impact screen sound louder than it actually is in person.

[jpotas]

Just an fyi, I only have my Carl's Preferred impact screen. Nothing behind except a wall 18" away. You can barely hear the ball hit the screen and my picture is great as you can see in the pics I posted earlier. What does adding moving blankets and backers due for you?

[Scottygolf]

interesting idea. for $30 I ordered another and will use the tarps to see if it helps, if not, I have a backup.

[Scottygolf]

So the other backdrop arrived along with more clips as it kept pulling out of the clips I had. I decided to throw a canvas paint tarp between the archery netting and backdrop vs. doubling up on the backdrop for noise. This is like 10x4 so clipped it to top and bottom to hold in placed. Made a huge difference in sound and since I already had it no cost. I decide to add more tarp clips around all sides to get a great image and it worked great until it was too tight and the bottom of the backdrop tore out of the clips. trying to avoid the shadows at the bottom when the screen moves up a little. Will try to re-connect and add bungees to see if that little give will prevent it from ripping. Still very pleased with the outcome.

[tntfox]

14MPH, I might go ahead and add grommets to the photo backdrop so I can tighten it up and hold it closer to the impact screen. It was so cheap and definitely takes the impact of a golf ball without even deforming that I'm willing to keep it and do some experimentation with it. I wonder if William Jenkins had the same sound issues that jpotas and I had. Based on my experimentation with the Carl's Premium screen and backing materials, I would think that the following may work better with the Photo Backdrop:

Layer 1 - Photo Backropt
Layer 2 - Net (like in a NetReturn) / archery baffle / etc
Layer 3 - Moving Blankets / canvas tarp / etc

My co-worker just bought a Spectrum Golf enclosure which comes with a net and a SuperTex impact screen. I will take the Photo Backdrop over to his place to test it out with the net behind it. If / when my impact screen starts to wear out, I will be testing with a net too. For now, my impact screen is about as quiet as I can hope for.