Small Space Struggles - Pulling Hair on Projector & Ratios

[EazyE]

Hoping for a little clarity here on sim bay / screen size to ratio / and projector.

I have a single bay garage that I am converting into a sim bay with Skytrak. I'm limited to using the existing metal frame track to the garage door as the bay, which unfortunately makes things a bit compact.

My dimensions to hit into is basically 8X8 ft. The length of garage is ~18ft, height 8.5ft, I will be hitting about 7 ft from target.

I hear poor things from trying to create a 1:1 ratio - is my option to use a 4:3 ratio and push a 120" diagonal (96" w x 72" h) and just deal with having projector trim cut off where the screen extends beyond the ratio?

Given the shorter ceiling height, I'm worried a projector from behind will cast shadow from my hitting position; does any one have experience with this set-up situation and projectors that would work above me / above in front of me / below in front of me with short distance?

Much appreciated, y'all!

[3on3putt]

For clarity, are you saying your space is 8 feet wide or just the screen is 8 feet wide? In other words, will you be able to hit into the middle of the screen or will you need to offset yourself?

[EazyE]

Just the screen is 8 ft wide. I can hit screen center

The entire garage is wider; however, the screen bay is 8X8 due to needing to use it within the frame of the garage door track.

[3on3putt]

Just the screen is 8 ft wide. Total space is 11 or so wide. I am able to hit into screen center.

So with that in mind, a lot of people here use this BenQ projector = https://www.projectorcentral.com/Ben...ulator-pro.htm

For your screen width it would mount 8 feet away and could be mounted close to the ceiling (or even flush up against it). If the ball is centered to the screen and the projector is mounted over the ball, it will be safe. Especially when it's mounted close to the ceiling.

If you want the image down further, check out some Optomas that have some bigger vertical offsets. The trade off is that they tend to have shorter throw ratios so many of them would have to go only like 5-6 feet away, and you may not be comfortable with that with such short ceilings.

As far as filling your screen or not, I'm sure the "poor things" you're referring to are my previous posts lol. It really is just a quantity vs. quality thing. You can do the 1:1 thing and fill your screen, but the picture quality will not be as good. Or you can just do 4:3 and live with some empty space but enjoy a much nicer image quality. To each their own. The thing to keep in mind though is that if you're going to do 1:1, that means you have to back the projector up. In the case of that BenQ, that means taking it back to 10.5 feet. And if it's that far behind you with only 8.5 ceilings, you're probably going to have your shadow on the screen. So now you're talking about a lesser image quality and shadows on the screen. That's not going to be a great experience IMO.

4:3 leaves you with 24 inches of empty space. If you leave a foot on bottom and a foot on top, the top of your image is 7 feet high (6-foot image but it starts a foot off the ground). And when you're hitting from only 7-8 feet away, that will feel plenty tall. Think about it -- that's the equivalent of standing two club lengths away from Shaq. That's quite big. And in my opinion, the improved picture quality more than makes up for the empty space.

[EazyE]

lol, it very well could have been your posts! Super helpful - your comments around the 4:3 and sizing perspective makes total sense, and I think was what I was looking to hear. I had been looking at that projector model as well, so I'm glad to see it is well liked and versatile.

Much appreciated!

[3on3putt]

lol, it very well could have been your posts! Super helpful - your comments around the 4:3 and sizing perspective makes total sense, and I think was what I was looking to hear. I had been looking at that projector model as well, so I'm glad to see it is well liked and versatile.

Much appreciated!

Just keep the vertical offset in mind. That BenQ has only 2 inches of vertical offset, which can be both good or bad depending on each person's setup. If you mount it close to the ceiling, your image will be all the way at the top and leave most of the empty screen at the bottom. If you want to drop the image a little lower to more evenly distribute the empty screen space, you would have to mount it down a little bit from the ceiling or go with a projector that has a larger vertical offset.

[GullLakeMi]

I have a 10'W by 8'6" H cage I custom build for my single garage stall application. I use a 4:3 image. I have the BenQ TK850 mounted about 14' back on a standard mount from the ceiling. I don't get a shadow from the golfer. For the floor, I used 1" gym mat's covered in grass carpet and created a 18" ramp to the screen to elevates the floor a few inches so putts and balls roll back towards the mat. This raises the bottom of the image a few inches. On top, I essentially covered the void with a baffle used to help manage balls hit high. Combined with blackout curtains and low ambient light, I don't really see the extra screen on top.

[GullLakeMi]

I hit about 12 feet back

[Hacker1]

You hit 12ft back, is that a problem for lob and high pitch shots with an 8’6 high screen?

[GullLakeMi]

I hit lob wedge about ‘12 back. Surprising how many times I could hit the top cross bar of EMT over screen! I padded it and create a baffle and no more issues. I hit full lob wedge < 2 a round and it’s not a shot I practice. If I move ball closer then projector throw would get shadowed. Compromise on my lower ceiling height.