Advice on 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio

[Joe M]

I found a short throw projector for a 4:3 aspect that worked well in my space. Carl’s was very good at matching a screen for the same aspect ratio. When I called projector central I was talked out of that projector because it was 720 not 1080 and the salesperson said it was old technology. He talked me into the optoma got 1080p hdr but that has a 16:9 ratio. The screen and enclosure then became too wide so carl’s gave me an alternate 16:10 screen that was almost the width of the room. The salesperson at Carl’s told me most golf simulators were 4:3 aspect and the 720 would be fine. I tend to agree with her and would like opinions on preference of 4:3 vs 16:9. My distance from lens to screen is 6’6”. Any advice?

[aja]

Personal preference in my opinion.

I prefer not having any white show up from the impact screen and in my sim space that means I go with a 4:3 screen and the projector fills the whole screen.

Some don't seem to mind that their "widescreen image" leaves white bands top and/or bottom. That to me, is kind of an incomplete, lazy approach.

You can still get a 4:3 image from a 16:9 projector - you just have to mount the projector further away.

If you play around with the settings in the Projector Central website you can find where the 16:9 projector has to be positioned in order to fill a 4:3 screen.

[Wizard of Coz]

I did 16:9 works great approximately 14x8 screen. Fills it up and works for tv/movies just fine.

[Shipwreck34]

I tend to agree with Projector Central (one of my favorite resources for years). 720p got out paced in 2005. 15 years ago! I still remember my first 1080i set that I got that year. (1080p was still super new then, and had very little market presence)

Anyway, history lesson aside... Plenty of projector manufacturers are still making less than 1080 on the cheap. Nothing wrong with it, but you can do better and still stay on the basically cheap. I got a 1080p LED projector for $260! If you've got more than cheap (say $600+) then you're good to go and 1080 should be the least of your worries. You have the added inconvenience of only 6'6" throw. That pretty much puts you in the Ultra Short Throw category, which unfortunately bumps the entry point for cost now somewhere around $1,200 for anything worthwhile.

For a Golf Sim set up I'd say realistically top of the list is Short Throw and good Keystone ability. So no matter what you end up with pay special attention to those features. The projector I got isn't the greatest for Short Throw, and although I thought "4D" Keystone would be independent 4 corner keystone (it wasn't), it's still good enough for my purposes at this time. I'll probably upgrade later and use the cheapy I got for something else. Camping... Projecting on the side of my house for Halloween! Who knows? All I'm saying is you can do this in steps too, if you want. Learn what works for your set up, then adapt.

BTW, I have a screen from Carl's, too. The "Preferred" screen. Due to the nature of the weave, the screen is grainy. That plus the "Screen Door Effect" compounds that and makes for some difficult image effects to ignore. No escaping it. Simple fix is just dialing down the Sharpness. (it helps, not fixes really) Also, the gain is high in comparison to a regular projector screen. "Hot Spotting" is pretty bad, and color replication is washed and hard to dial in. That being said... These screens were not designed for movie time. Gotta take the good with the bad. And, that critique probably sounds overly critical, but it's coming from a guy who's installed and dialed in his fair share of projectors not only personally, but professionally.

TL;DR: Get an Ultra Short Throw 1080p (or better) projector, as long as it's in the budget. If not, get at least 1080p and strong Keystone ability, and work with what you've got.