Projector Help

[bouchermb]

I'm buying a TrakMan and started the build out recently. I'm sure this has been posted a gazzillion times, but here's a gazzilon and 1. SIM enclosure has 8x12 impact screen, 16:10 aspect ratio and was curious what projector is good/decently priced and how far/where this should be positioned in relation to the screen. I'm planning on plaing the SIM 9 feet from the screen, unless someone recommends something different.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[bouchermb]

I really appreciate your input and that helps/makes sense. I'm on a pretty crazy learning curve, but it's coming together. Is a 1080p quality resolution/something you'd be happy with? I did go to projector central and it is starting to compute. I mounted a canvas tarp to the ceiling that runs 7 feet long x 14 feet wide and have memory foam arriving shortly to put under it/include as protection and have a rug mounted to angle iron that's going behind the enclosure/impact screen. I have a pretty good idea of how things will lay out, I'm just realizing there much more to it. I heard from someone that they weren't sure that TGC isn't maximized for 16:10 aspect ratio, if that makes any sense. It doesn't to me, since aspect ratio is strictly about image projection correct?

The one thing I didn't see with the projector I posted above is the necessary height to ceiling mount it. As I mentioned, I'm constricted with just over 8 1/2 foot ceilings.

[3on3putt]

(Edit: Disregard this post. I made the corrections in the post below).

[3on3putt]

Back up the bus here...

In your original post you said you have a screen that is 8x12. That is not a 16:10 aspect ratio. That is closest to 4:3 (9x10 would be exactly 4:3).

In 4x

Nearly all projectors will run 4:3 and tgc2019 works fine in 4:3 (it works fine in any aspect ratio). You said you wanted to hit from 9 feet away, which means your throw ratio would be 0.75.

1.) Go to projector central and do a search using the throw ratio search filter with a range of 0.5 to 0.9 to put you in the right ballpark.

2.) When looking at each projector, toggle the aspect ratio setting to 4:3 and use the mounting distance slider to see how each one will project in 4:3.

3.) Pay close attention to vertical offset. Vertical offset is the distance between the lens and the top edge of the image for a ceiling mount or the bottom edge of the image for a floor mount.) You have 6 inches between screen and ceiling so you can't have too much vertical offset. BenQ has a lot of projectors wity low vertical offsets so give those a look. Optomas typically have longer vertical offsets.

Quoting my own post here because something seems to have gotten screwed up and it's saying I can't edit it for some reason.....

To be clear, you have options between 4:3, 16:10 or 16:9.

In 4:3 your image would be 128 wide and 96 high (filling the screen vertically but leaving some blank space on the sides).

In 16:10 it would be 144 wide and 90 high (filling it horizontally and leaving some room on top and/or bottom).

In 16:9 it would be 144 wide by 81 high (filling it horizontally with even more blank space on top and/or bottom).

Nearly all projectors are capable of running 4:3 or 16:9. Many are capable of running 16:10, but 16:10 is found less often.

There are two advantages to running 16:9:

-- You will have more options for projectors.

-- The 81 inches of image height gives you more wiggle room for your vertical offset. If you started on the image at the bottom, you would have 15 inches of blank space between the top of the image and the top of your screen. Plus another 6 inches between the top of the screen and the ceiling. That's a total of 21 inches of room to play with for vertical offset.

In 16:10 you would have 12 inches of room for vertical offset (6 screen and 6 ceiling).

In 4:3 you would have only 6 inches to work with since your image would be touching the top of the screen.

I would look for something you can mount flush to the ceiling since you have very low ceilings. Then let the vertical offset drop the image down to where you want it.

Another thing to consider .... at just 13 feet wide, will you be able to hit from the center of the room or do you have to be offset to the right a little? You did mention that you're 5'6'' so you may be able to hit from center. But if not, you have to consider how your backswing and follow through will affect your projector placement.

[bouchermb]

Really good info to have and if my math is right, I have a 96" h x 144" w. 171" diagonal.

I found the projector below running 16:10 and wondered what you think. I was also curious if you thought 12 inches of vertical offset was enough. You might have to see my setup, but figured I'd ask. I will be able to hit from the center of the room.

https://www.projectorpeople.com/BenQ-MW632ST/Projector/37511?sid=PCEL

Here's a link to the enclosure I'm looking at and I just wanted to be sure I'm relaying over the right info. about my planned setup.

Also, I adjusted things so I can hit from 10 feet away and wondered what that would do to my throw ratio.

Thanks a ton. I really appreciate it.

[3on3putt]

Really good info to have and if my math is right, I have a 96" h x 144" w. 171" diagonal.

I found the projector below running 16:10 and wondered what you think. I was also curious if you thought 12 inches of vertical offset was enough. You might have to see my setup, but figured I'd ask. I will be able to hit from the center of the room.

https://www.projectorpeople.com/BenQ...37511?sid=PCEL

Here's a link to the enclosure I'm looking at and I just wanted to be sure I'm relaying over the right info. about my planned setup.

Also, I adjusted things so I can hit from 10 feet away and wondered what that would do to my throw ratio.

Thanks a ton. I really appreciate it.

The throw ratio of that projector is perfect for your setup. Here it is on projector central where you can see the image size for your space.

https://www.projectorcentral.com/Ben...ulator-pro.htm

It only has 2 inches of vertical offset, which is fine. In 16:10, your image will be 90 inches tall. You can use those 90 inches however you want on your 96-inch screen. You can have them all at the top (which would leave 6 inches of blank screen at the bottom) or put them all at the bottom (leaving 6 inches of blank screen at the top) or split them up and do something like 3 inches on top and 3 on bottom or whatever combination you want.

Vertical offset is measured from the middle of the lens, and if you mount the projector pretty flush to the ceiling the lens will be a few inches below the ceiling. Let's say you wanted to center the image with 3 inches of blank screen on top and 3 inches on bottom. You would need the middle of the lens to be 5 inches below the ceiling (2 inches account for the vertical offset and 3 inches account for the blank space). Hope that makes sense.

Long story short, yes that projector will work just fine. If you can hit from the exact center of the screen like you say, then go ahead and mount it so the lens is 9.5 feet away and in the center of the screen, right over the golf ball. And mount it pretty close to the ceiling. Do a google search for flush projector mounts. Most standard projector mounts have an arm that drops down for the projector to hang from but you can find some with no arm that just sit right up against the ceiling. Or you can just DIY a little shelf that hangs by a chain.

[bouchermb]

Mounting the projector 9.5 feet away would be if the sim is 10 feet from the impact screen, correct?

How about this projector mount?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Projector-Ceiling-Mount-for-BenQ-MW632ST-MW814ST-MW817ST-MW820ST-MW824ST-MX501/291638522309?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Ddd329eddb7164b338388cffdc7ae39af%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D291638522309%26itm%3D291638522309%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A1f12ae9b-5e73-11eb-9f16-caf6bc303445%7Cparentrq%3A35af31d61770ac3db179581bffcaa658%7Ciid%3A1

[3on3putt]

Mounting the projector 9.5 feet away would be if the sim is 10 feet from the impact screen, correct?

How about this projector mount?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Projector-Ceiling-Mount-for-BenQ-MW632ST-MW814ST-MW817ST-MW820ST-MW824ST-MX501/291638522309?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Ddd329eddb7164b338388cffdc7ae39af%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D291638522309%26itm%3D291638522309%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A1f12ae9b-5e73-11eb-9f16-caf6bc303445%7Cparentrq%3A35af31d61770ac3db179581bffcaa658%7Ciid%3A1

You are using skytrak, which goes next to the hitting mat and just slightly in front of the hitting spot. If you hit from 10 feet the skytrak will be about 9 feet from the screen give or take.

And yes, that mount should do the trick.

[3on3putt]

I just glanced at that projector again and noticed that it's only a 1280x800 resolution. That's fine as long as that's all you're looking for. But just wanted to make you were aware of that since that's a bit lower than what you could otherwise get. It shows a retail price of $579. Personally I think that's insane for a standard def projector. If you're fine with standard def than that's okay. But I wouldn't pay more than a couple hundred bucks for one considering you can get HD projectors (1920x1080) for right around that $579 price. Heck, I have a 1280x800 I'll sell you for $100 if that's all you're looking for.

[bouchermb]

Good to know and do you know of any HD projectors you'd recommend that would work well for me in that price range? I'm going to start looking now.

[bouchermb]

Can't find squat for 16;10 projectors.

Is this better?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Epson-PowerLite-Pro-G5650W-3LCD-Projector-4500-ANSI-16-10-HD-1080i-HDMI-w-Remote/224296144484?epid=113486951&hash=item3439178e64:g:LbkAAOSwzmZf6bP1

[Dax]

If you want 1080p, then the following might be something to plug into projector central and see if it works with your space at full zoom (suspect not, but worth a try).

Epson 92210 or the 9220. These are good, but suspect may not fit your space. I believe a good short throw was listed above, but was 16:9. I think it was the 671st which is used by others here with good results.

[bouchermb]

I see that one is16:9 and do you think I should just go with that and deal with the black space across the top/bottom or do with a lower res 16:10 projector. I'd rather not have gaps and the top/bottom, but if you think the MW632 St will leave me underwhelmed with picture quality, I'm open to recommednations.

[bouchermb]

How about this guy.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-PT-VZ570-WUXGA-Projector-4800-Lumens-1920x1200-10000-1-w-111-Hours-/274657709844?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

[3on3putt]

I see that one is16:9 and do you think I should just go with that and deal with the black space across the top/bottom or do with a lower res 16:10 projector. I'd rather not have gaps and the top/bottom, but if you think the MW632 St will leave me underwhelmed with picture quality, I'm open to recommednations.

16:10 leaves you with 6 inches of blank screen. 16:9 leaves you with 15 inches of blank screen. There are ways to manipulate the image in the graphics card to fill the screen but it eats away at image quality.

16:9 leaves you with a lot more projector options because 16:10 has become somewhat of an endangered species.

[bouchermb]

Thanks for clarifying and if you were me, what would your choice be?