Projector help

[Albo17]

Hi,

I am looking to put together a swing room and am trying to cost everything up.

For projectors, what is a good option, room dimensions are 16'4 long, 9' wide and 8'6 high.

It will be in a garage with a little natural light during the day.

i'm thinking of getting a screen that will fill the 9' x 8'6 space, not sure what sort of aspect ratio I should be looking at, or distance from the screen etc.

Any recommendations or help gladly received, I have no real knowledge in this space.

Equally I'm not sure what I should be budgeting for this, I want something that will project a good image. Happy to look at a range of costs.

thanks in advance

[spaz]

The BenQ TH671ST projector would give you a 9' x 7' image (4:3 ratio) at around 9ft away. The biggest problem you'll have is that the projector would be centered and you'll be hitting offset to one side with your limited width so you'll have to make sure it won't get hit in your follow through assuming it is ceiling mounted. You can look up projectors here ;

https://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-TH671ST-projection-calculator-pro.htm

[3on3putt]

Basically what spaz said. Since you'll be hitting from all the way over to one side, that puts the projector in the way of backswings and follow throughs. I would recommend doing a floor mount. Check out some of the InFocus or Optoma projectors. You can mount those much closer to the screen and since you won't be filling your screen vertically the vertical offset of those projectors won't be an issue. Mount it on the floor centered to the screen and then you'll hit to the side of it. Unless you're trying to go 4k resolution, I personally wouldn't spend more than a grand. Check out the projector central up above. That's your best resource. InFocus HD138ST and Optoma 1080 and 1090 GDR are good places to start.

[Dax]

Irrespective of what path you take, you will likely need to do a custom resolution on the width a little. If you go 4:3, we would likely only be talking a few inches or just accept that about 3 inches or so of your image will not be projected onto your screen (likely no big deal as you want to max out the height as much as possible in any event). But agree with above that 7’ is likely the max you are going to get. This is still pretty good, as you are going to likely be hitting at about 9 feet from the screen. I am assuming your screen will be about a foot from the wall/garage door.

Given your need to hit offset, you are going to want something that is either directly above you (which the above mentioned projector likely can be, you will need to use its zoom feature a bit) or go for something that is right up against your back wall on (likely not ideal unless the projector has a bit of horizontal adjustment to 1. Reduce risk of getting hit from your swing and 2. Reduce the amount of shadow. Given the shadow issue, I think having something at 9 feet would be the preferred distance.

[Albo17]

Thanks for the input, im having trouble working out everything on the projector central site.

Ideally, I think I want to mount the projector back right of the room so approx 14'6 away from the screen, but offset to the right to avoid shadow issues.

Given the distance between say 13' and 15' from the 9' screen i get the throw ratio to be between 1.44 and 1.66. However as I want to place the projector off to the side, I'll need something with horizontal lens shift (?)

I've found a Epson projector that I think would work in this set up https://www.projectorcentral.com/Eps...-EH-TW7400.htm

However, when I go to the projection calculation page for that, I can't seem to get the throw distance and image size to match up.... am I doing something wrong, or is this projector not fit for what im looking to do?

[3on3putt]

Thanks for the input, im having trouble working out everything on the projector central site.

Ideally, I think I want to mount the projector back right of the room so approx 14'6 away from the screen, but offset to the right to avoid shadow issues.

Given the distance between say 13' and 15' from the 9' screen i get the throw ratio to be between 1.44 and 1.66. However as I want to place the projector off to the side, I'll need something with horizontal lens shift (?)

I've found a Epson projector that I think would work in this set up http://www.projectorcentral.com/Epso...-EH-TW7400.htm

However, when I go to the projection calculation page for that, I can't seem to get the throw distance and image size to match up.... am I doing something wrong, or is this projector not fit for what im looking to do?

It's a 16:9 native projector, so the throw distance would be around 16 feet for your screen width when casting in 16:9. But changing the aspect ratio also changes the throw distance. In this case, casting in 4:3 puts the throw distance at 22 feet for the same width of screen.

If I were doing a build in that room, I would do a floor mount. You are hitting offset, so backswings and follow throughs need to be taken into account with any ceiling mounts when hitting offset. And with such low ceilings, you can't the projector high enough to avoid shadows when put behind you.

I would go for something with a throw ratio of like 0.5. For example, here is how my projector would fit in your space =

https://www.projectorcentral.com/InFocus-IN138HDST-projection-calculator-pro.htm

It would go on the floor 5'8'' inches from the screen. The projector would be centered to the screen and you would be hitting to the right of it (so it won't be in the way of chipping and putting).

It has 12 inches of vertical offset from that distance, which means the bottom edge of the image will start 12 inches above the lens. That's fine, because your 4:3 image height will only be 76 inches anyway (meaning you have tons of blank screen space).

[Albo17]

Thanks for the info again, though i'm not sure the doc attached is the one you wanted to attach

[3on3putt]

My fault. Correct link is there now.

[Albo17]

Thanks for that.

This really is getting confusing for me now, totally not anyones fault.

In my plans I will be teeing up ~7' away from the impact screen to give enough clearance behind for the club and seating etc. Im worried having a central floor mounted projector will impact my stance at 5' 8 away from the screen being only 1' 4 from the ball position

[3on3putt]

Thanks for that.

This really is getting confusing for me now, totally not anyones fault.

In my plans I will be teeing up ~7' away from the impact screen to give enough clearance behind for the club and seating etc. Im worried having a central floor mounted projector will impact my stance at 5' 8 away from the screen being only 1' 4 from the ball position

It very well could. But keep in mind that the projector will also be slightly behind you (you will be to the right of it).

You can find projectors that will mount even closer if you need more room for your feet. I was just using that as an example for how a floor mount is often a good option when dealing with low ceilings + offset hitting area.

Just another way to go about it as the selection of projectors with horizontal lens shift is a bit narrow.

[Albo17]

I really do appriciate all the help and advice, I've just been out to measure up and pulling the tee bach a touch would leave room without compromising too much

[3on3putt]

Do you already have a hitting mat? Just be conscious that the mat will extend out away from your front foot a little bit. If you don't yet have a mat, measure out the space of the mat and put some tape or something on the floor where it will go and then do the same for the projector to see how it will all fit.

[Albo17]

I will do that.

[Albo17]

I am still looking at projector options here, hopefully you are all happy to still offer help :-)

I have a worry about going for the floor mount option in so far as balls / clubs hitting the projector, is that something I need to factor in? I saw there is a protective box but its quite expensive and sold out in a lot of places here in the UK. I am trying to work out if bounce back from the screen might cause an issue or a shanked shot into the wall or something might out the projector in jeopardy?

Is another option to look at a projector ceiling mounted but above where I will be swinging, so essentially offset to the right by about 3' and 8' back from the screen with horizontal tilt?

Of if I am possibly better with floor mounted and some sort of protective box or other, would I need to look at the vertical offset of the projector? (again the screen size should be about 9' by 8'

Lastly in terms of projectors, should I be looking at native 4:3 projectors or not?

[3on3putt]

1. No need to necessarily look at projectors that are 4:3 native. If you find one that is 4:3 native that works, great. But you will have many more options if you look at all native aspect ratios. Nearly all projectors can be run at 4:3.

2. The best place for a projector is right above the ball. It's out of the way of the club path and is far enough away from the screen that it won't get hit with any balls. If you can find one with horizontal lens shift and a vertical offset that will work with your ceiling space then that can be a great option. I just don't know what the selection of projectors looks like that have horizontal shift. I tend to think that feature is found only on more expensive projectors and is somewhat limited in selection. Unfortunately projector central does not have horizontal lens shift as a search filter option.

3. I can't see how a projector on the floor would be in the way of a club considering it would be slightly behind you. That would take one bizarre follow through. As far as getting hit by a ball, you shouldn't have balls bouncing back that far.

4. You will have to consider vertical offset no matter if you are mounting on ceiling or floor. It comes into play no matter where you place it.

[jasonreg]

Actually, if you expand the Features/Functions section you can add several specific features to search on, including horizontal lens shift. But yes, it drives the price up a bit.

[3on3putt]

Ha ... I never even noticed the expansion option. Thanks. That's a great tip.

[Albo17]

Last question on vert offset.....

If it's floor mounted, what sort of vert offset do I need to look for?
And if it was ceiling mounted, what sort of vert offset would I need?

[3on3putt]

Last question on vert offset.....

If it's floor mounted, what sort of vert offset do I need to look for?
And if it was ceiling mounted, what sort of vert offset would I need?

Your ceiling is 8'6'' high. Vertical offset is the amount of space between the top edge of the image and the middle of the lens for a ceiling mounted projector. For a floor mounted projector, it's the distance between the bottom edge of the image and the middle of the lens. So the vertical offset is the same number whether it's on the ceiling or the floor. It's just flipped upside down.

Your screen dimensions will be closest to a 4:3 ratio. Let's say your screen was 8 feet high (which allows 6 inches up top for enclosure or however you intend to hang it plus some bungee cord tension).

Let's also say your screen is 8 feet wide (again allowing for 6 inches on each side). You will have a square 8x8 screen.

In 4:3, that will cast an image of 8 feet wide but only 72 inches high. So the image will fill the screen completely from left to right but will leave 24 inches of empty space on the screen from top to bottom (screen is 96 inches tall but image is only 72 inches tall).

You can distribute those 24 inches however you want. If you wanted to center the image you would have 12 inches on top and 12 on bottom. In that case, you could have around 8 inches or so of vertical offset (since the middle of the lens is a few inches above or below the top or bottom of the projector). I hope that's not too confusing.

If you ceiling mounted it and left all 24 inches of blank space up top, you could have up to about 20 inches of vertical offset. Same as if you floor mounted it and left all the blank space at the bottom.

Use the sliding scale tool on projector central to see how image size and vertical offset changes as you slide the projector back and forth.

You CAN technically use your graphics card to create a custom 1:1 aspect ratio which will fill your screen completely. If you are only using the simulator for driving range practice, I would say go for it. But if you will be using it to play sim courses I would caution against it as it really eats away at the image quality.