Projector in front or behind you?

[DFDubb]

My upcoming SIM space will be 15 ft wide, by 20 ft deep, with 9 ft ceilings. At my last house with a SIM, there was a loft type of area above and behind the hitting area where the projector sat. That house is gone as is all of that hardware, so I'm starting over. My question is would you put a short throw in front of you on the ceiling or behind you on the ceiling. It's a large space with the only shortcoming being the 9 ft ceiling. I've never actually hit in a SIM room with the projector near you which is why I ask. $$$ isn't really a factor, I'll spend what I need to spend to set it up and not think about it.

[docsmilez]

I set mine up with the projector behind me (about 20 feet from screen) and as far to the right as possible. With the Epson Powerlight 1940w I was able to use keystone/zoom adjustments to make the image perfectly square from there and have absolutely no shadows. Ceiling is 10.5 feet.

Initially had a short throw projector mounted on ceiling in front of me but took that down really quick after a couple of uncomfortable swings. I was always worried about a ball smashing into the projector. With the projector far behind me I don't even think about it.

[Lefty71]

I set mine behind 5 feet away I have the optoma gtx 1080

[aeroburner]

anything that can not cast a shadow is a good set up you just got to do a little research on the location to get this

[aja]

Short throw is the only way to go. No shadows.

No ball has ever even come close. Projector is about 2.4 meters from screen. Furthest ball to hit the ceiling was 0.5 meters from impact screen, well away from the projector.

[DFDubb]

So looking at ST projectors, it seems the optimal throw distance for a lot of them is right around 10 ft. I was planning on having the hitting area right around the same distance from the screen. That would put the PJ directly over the ball. Is that what others do? It obviously shouldn't be in harms way of a club right above the ball, but having never hit in that sort of setup, it seems a bit weird. The Epson Powerlite 520 has horizontal keystone correction so I could put it to the side a bit, but has a native 4:3. With a 15ft wide screen I definitely want a 16:9.

[docsmilez]

10 feet seems high. With a 15 foot screen at 16:9 the popular short throw projectors should be around 7 feet. Putting the projector a couple of feet in front of your hitting area. Given you don't have a super low cieling, that would keep the projector out harms way.

With an Optoma GT1080 to fill a 15x9 screen would need to be 7.5'' away.

[p3eps]

Right above my head - not in any danger, and no shadow!

[Trickle007]

That's where mine sits above head 10 feet high. Very safe position.

[Tonyd9366]

DF, it's a matter of personal preference. My bay is 20 long too. And I have mine behind me. I have no shadow issues at all and of course it never gets in the way and no fear of hitting it with the ball or my swing. I think both are fine in my opinion. But again t it's a matter of personal preference. I think short throws are a bit more expensive, so I went the less expensive route.

[leoapd]

Sorry for the large image. Hoping to get some confirmation of what I am looking at through the Benq calculator. In the room dimension section I entered the size of my intended screen viewing area (white), which is 9wx8H. I then entered 135" diagonal dimensions for the screen size section, assuming the calculator projects an image that size to keep the full width of the screen? Does it seem correct? By looking at it in 4:3, which is what I have to go with, and I place the specified projector at just over 8' from screen, and 11'8 from top of screen viewable area, I have just under 14 inches of white at the top, making it an 81" tall image? Projector central gives me some different throw distance numbers...could that be due to zoom?Am I on the right track here? Any input would be appreciated.

[modest09]

DFDubb,

My upcoming SIM space will be 15 ft wide, by 20 ft deep, with 9 ft ceilings. At my last house with a SIM, there was a loft type of area above and behind the hitting area where the projector sat. That house is gone as is all of that hardware, so I'm starting over. My question is would you put a short throw in front of you on the ceiling or behind you on the ceiling. It's a large space with the only shortcoming being the 9 ft ceiling. I've never actually hit in a SIM room with the projector near you which is why I ask. $$$ isn't really a factor, I'll spend what I need to spend to set it up and not think about it.

I have a very similar setup/situation as you... Would you be interested to let me know what projector, screen you ultimately went with? If you could post some pictures, they would be much appreciated. My ceiling is on 8'8"

[DFDubb]

I ended up with the Optoma 1080 a couple of feet in front of me. It's a non issue. Club nor ball has ever come close.

[modest09]

Amazing, great set up. Very helpful. Is the ceiling higher than 9'?

[DFDubb]

Ceiling is 9 ft. I'm tall and cannot swing a driver, I usually tee off with a 5 wood or 2 hybrid off of the deck.

[Fhacker]

DFDubb. Very nice setup. Hope to have something similar in a new house when we move. Couple questions, is the projector the Darbee model projector? What are your final distances, projector to screen and hitting area to screen, and final approximate image size? Thanks

[DFDubb]

The PJ is not the Darbee model. It sits about 6 ft from the screen and I hit from about 10 ft back. Image size is roughly 7' x 11'.