Screen size dilema - contractor just sunk my heart a bit

[eezetee]

Met my contractor today for a house extension (office) that i'm working on. Was just advised that the width at the back of the room is 4.6 meters (15 feet) not 5.2 (17 feet)

Which, when the door is there I'm left with about maybe 3.9 meters (12.7 feet) wide. which means at 16:9 it'll only be 7.15 feet tall.

Or do I change walls, and expand the screen (I have 5 meters/17 feet of par2pro raw material) and go with the a full 4.5 meters (14.5 feet wide) and 2.5 (8.2 feet) high?

My questions are

1) Is having the optishot 2 in 16:9 and taking full advantage of the screen down to the ground despite being only over 7 feet tall or
or
2) Is 4:3 good enough and therefore I need not worry about the 16:9? which would give me 12 feet wide by 9 feet tall.

I have 1085ST projector, enough raw screen materials.

At a loss here and looking for advice on my first build

[aja]

Not a case of 4:3 being "good enough". In your situation it is the best choice if you want a good looking result. The image will fill the whole screen without empty white space which, in my view looks half baked. 16:9 is just window dressing for agolf sim.

I'd be concerned about ceiling height if you can only get 8.5 feet vertically.

[eezetee]

Hey Aja. Thanks for the reply.

I forgot a few details. The area I wanted to mount the screen, I thought was a certain size but the contractor has reduced that. I can, in the picture, move the place of the screen and get a full 5 meter (16 feet ) wide screen and my ceilings are over 10 foot tall. It's not really a huge issue to move the location of the screen but changed the other areas of the room considerable.

So, my questions were, basically
Does 16:9 really make it? Mean, if I can do 16 feet wide by 9 tall, will that be a better experienced than say 12 wide x 9 tall?

[eezetee]

I'm stuck. Not sure where to invade another part of the room to be able to go a full 16:9. Is it a better approach?

That said, what is the minimum height for that top-quality deployment feeling.

Can I go with 12.5/7 feet?
or is 14.2/8
or is the real 16/9 the way to go? Meaning is 8 feet tall enough (my ceilings are 10)

Many thanks everyone. Will be using a bunch of the building advice here (already have the mesh, par2pro raw materials and the cord/clip idea)

[goodmatt78]

4:3 is superior to 16:9 for your room size. I have your projector and a 14x14ft room with 9ft ceilings. View photo here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4kben6oyqlrt101/20161211_170746.jpg?dl=0

I run TGC at 1600:1200 and it looks fantastic. I was adamant that I wanted the image going all the way to the floor and as tall as possible. I would think height over width. My limitation is that my projector is mounted as far back as possible in my room. However, the image size is almost perfect so that I have room for all my bungies and the ability to hide them with trimming.

[goodmatt78]

Here's one I took with my gopro wide angle to show most of the room.

[MainStGolf]

What kind of screen is that and how is it attached so that you do not need a "net" on the sides. That setup sure would help me a LOT.

[goodmatt78]

That is the supertex (was hq2) in front of an archery net. It is attached to slotted angle on walls and ceiling. Then I used tarp clips and bungies that are covered by trimming that I made.

I need to re-hang it over xmas break as it has a few wrinkles.

[goodmatt78]

Eezetee.....I had plans to cover plywood with black carpet and hang on walls and ceiling for protection and for wedge shots. However, once I started using it, they weren't needed. I hit from about 7-8 ft. This may change when my son gets a bit older.

On the wall is just a 46in smart tv. I have it on a 4x2 hdmi matrix with my projector. I can show directtv, netflix, pc or ipad on my tv and/or projector.

[eezetee]

Hey Matt.

That looks great. Really impressive. I also like how you don't have any side guards/nets. I'm assuming many of your friends/family are a pretty good shot too and you aren't worried about errant shots?


I've looked at my set up a little more, and I can squeeze in 14 feet (4.5M) wide, by 7.8 feet (2.3M) which based on what I see here (http://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ...ulator-pro.htm) means my projector would have to be about 3.4m back. I can do that. I have a lot of fleixibility with the room if I did 4:3 too

However, it seems that even if I cannot do a full 16x9, you are saying that a 4:3 done properly would be much better right?

[goodmatt78]

I spent a lot of time like you figuring out my screen size. Then once I hooked up the projector before I mounted it and saw the image size and 16:9 vs 4:3 my entire game plan changed. 4:3 is the way to go unless you can get a minimum of 8ft high image at 16:9. Mine is 4:3 and 8.5ft high and perfect for my room.

The ST range is 4:3 and the text looks stupid when stretched to 16:9. If you plan to use the ST range often, then this should be considered. I honestly use it more than TGC.

TGC will accommodate any resolution you graphics card can handle, so no issue there. Good luck.

[eezetee]

Thanks Matt. I think i'll wait until the structure of the room is near completion before thinking about exact placement. I've got the two area's mentioned above in the room, back wall or side wall. But as you said, unless I can get 8 foot high maybe i'll opt (no pun) for the 4:3

That said, my optishot is still in the box. Maybe in the future i'll upgrade to one of the more elaborate systems out there.
My projector is the 1085ST (16:9 native) so i'm not sure what you meant by the ST range?

Thanks again. I hope to be able to help others as you've helped me. Cheers!

[goodmatt78]

Sorry...ST means skytrak, but it sounds like that isn't the software you will use.

[aja]

Maybe it hasn't been said enough. 4:3 That's all you need to know.

You aren't watching a movie, you're playing golf.

[Dan McWhirter]

I'm quite happy with 16:9 and only 7 feet high picture, leaving about 2 feet of un-lit screen at the bottom. Hitting stance is only 9 feet away from the screen (projector is overhead), so my shadow falls on the un-lit portion. It doesn't look or feel weird at all.

[FaultyClubs]

I think it's personal preference. 4:3 is so far from our natural real life perspective it looks completely unnatural to me. So i couldn't live with a 4:3 image no matter how big. But that's just me. One really needs to experiment for themselves.

[eezetee]

I had a few others send me pictures of their setup in 4:3 and 16:9 and it's very noticible how compresses and odd the tree's look. I didn't originally notice on the board posts here but after seeing one of just the screen (not being enamored with all the other cool stuff people have) I think I will have to test to see.

[goodmatt78]

I think the image distortion has to do with the software and settings used. I cannot speak for anything but the ST range and TGC. TGC has the ability to scale to any resolution your graphics card and send out. This means no distortion. I do agree that if the software is designed to run at only 16:9, then 4:3 will look silly. This is not the case with TGC. I always look at the text on the screen to see if it is distorted.

[eezetee]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think i'm going to wait until the room is done. Luckily, I have purchased extra RawHQmaterial and I have access to some people that can help me build the wood frame.
it'll either be 4:3 along the top wall (see first post)
or 16:9 along the side wall.

Either is an option and I'm slightly leaning toward the 16:9 view if I can swing it.

The last question for everyone is.


What is the minimum and perfect height of the screen off the floor. Meaning, I plan to have to the screen to the floor, not raised and would like to know if 7.5 feet high is not lifelike or if 8 or 8.5 is much better. Thank you!

[goodmatt78]

When I was looking at 16:9, I also thought of leaving a image gap to the floor. Don't do it! Run the image and screen all the way to the floor. THis makes putting much better as the ball will literally roll across the floor and then into the screen image.

As for height, as I said before....go taller. When I hit a iron....I look up to see where it goes....not down or straight ahead. I think most people on here had similar questions and most simulators are usually a compromise for the $$$ and space, but we all have things we would do different and lessons learned.

Good luck.

[eezetee]

Quite clear now Matt. Thank you!

Will look to run the image to the floor and has high as I can. Since the room is still under construction (2nd floor above outdoor patio) I won't know the true measurements until it's done. This will dictate which wall I put the simulator on and will also dictacte what format I use.

I appreciate all the help and will definitely look to join the tournaments in the future, if (once) I upgrade systems.

Cheers!