Finally!

[Skyking]

Got it... I made the mistake of reading comments here and watching YouTube videos that all spoke highly of the Optoma GT1080 Darbee. I think even Rain or Shine had a video with 3 projectors they sell and saying the Darbee was the best they had or something to that effect. I’m sure if I went back and watched the video again they probably said check the throw ratio or whatever, which I selectively didn’t hear or read. No disrespect to them, I’m glad they’re available for us with information and products.


As far as zoom is concerned...yes it has digital zoom from .8-2. Hopefully late this afternoon I can put up 4 small pieces of duct tape or the like, based on the size of the screen against the garage and play around with the projector from different distances. I deleted e6 Connect from the laptop when I built the gaming computer so I’ll have to figure out if I can install it with the demo course. Otherwise I’ll just use the test pattern comes with the projector.

[3on3putt]

Got it... I made the mistake of reading comments here and watching YouTube videos that all spoke highly of the Optoma GT1080 Darbee. I think even Rain or Shine had a video with 3 projectors they sell and saying the Darbee was the best they had or something to that effect. I’m sure if I went back and watched the video again they probably said check the throw ratio or whatever, which I selectively didn’t hear or read. No disrespect to them, I’m glad they’re available for us with information and products.


As far as zoom is concerned...yes it has digital zoom from .8-2. Hopefully late this afternoon I can put up 4 small pieces of duct tape or the like, based on the size of the screen against the garage and play around with the projector from different distances. I deleted e6 Connect from the laptop when I built the gaming computer so I’ll have to figure out if I can install it with the demo course. Otherwise I’ll just use the test pattern comes with the projector.

Don't get me wrong .... the Darbee is a very good projector and very popular for sim use. But being a GOOD projector and the RIGHT projector are two different things. And like I said, if you can mount the Darbee from 6 feet, then you have a fantastic projector.

Digital zoom will allow you to manipulate the distance a little, but it will also sacrifice picture quality (optical zoom on the other hand will not affect picture quality).

Figure out where you can mount a projector that won't be in the way. Then measure that distance and determine your throw ratio according to your screen size. Then use projector central to find projectors with the appropriate throw ratio. It takes some research and some shopping around but it's worth the effort to get a projector that will help you get the most out of your setup.

[Skyking]

Got it, thanks. If it’s 6’ in front of the screen that puts the projector 2’ in FRONT of the mat. The mat can’t be any closer otherwise you would hit the enclosure on the top cross pipe with a driver! I’m learning that even mounting the projector at 6 feet on the floor is not advised by Optoma. I had no idea the only choice was to put the projector on a table or mount on the ceiling, until I was looking through the manual. I don’t know if that is just Optoma BS or a hard and fast no.

The roof brace 2 x 4 at 14 feet looks like the best solution except for the fact I don’t know if the golfer’s shadow would be on the screen. It wasn’t with the Optoma when the wife held it up there with me standing on the mat but…

[3on3putt]

Got it, thanks. If it’s 6’ in front of the screen that puts the projector 2’ in FRONT of the mat. The mat can’t be any closer otherwise you would hit the enclosure on the top cross pipe with a driver! I’m learning that even mounting the projector at 6 feet on the floor is not advised by Optoma. I had no idea the only choice was to put the projector on a table or mount on the ceiling, until I was looking through the manual. I don’t know if that is just Optoma BS or a hard and fast no.

The roof brace 2 x 4 at 14 feet looks like the best solution except for the fact I don’t know if the golfer’s shadow would be on the screen. It wasn’t with the Optoma when the wife held it up there with me standing on the mat but…

1.) Having the projector ceiling-mounted in front of the mat is not uncommon. Mine is about a foot in front of my mat. It will not be in the way of your swing. However, because you are trying to pull off the lefty-righty thing but have to be offset for each, that will definitely complicate ceiling mounting a projector in front of the mat because you have to get it out of the way of both lefty and righty follow throughs.

2.) Not sure why Optoma would advise against floor mounting. Unless it comes down to an air circulation thing and the risk of overheating it. But I really don't know why they would say not to.

3.) When your wife held up the projector at 14 feet, wasn't the image way too big for the screen?

[Skyking]

3.) When your wife held up the projector at 14 feet, wasn't the image way too big for the screen? Uh...yeah it cover the screen, both sides of the enclosure and side walls above the enclosure using the test grid. My concern at that point was a shadow. The wife was having trouble holding it for very long so…

I'm still curious about e6 Connect and how different resolutions can be said to fit the image on the screen correctly. As you can possibly see from the picture with the projector on the mat, I wasn't that impressed with the picture quality. I guess I was use to looking at a 4K TV when I used the Net Return. Also the wife is looking for thick black material from Michael's that we can hang on the back side of the screen that may help.

I was looking at projectorcentral.com and disappointed they don't have any HD 4:3 aspect ratio projectors. One of the selling points I read about the Darbee was full HD and dropping down to the 4:3 resolution stays well above XGA. To be honest I don't remember what the resolution ended up being when I was making adjustments through e6 Connect and the image finally filled the screen. It may very well hav dropped down to XGA resolution sitting on the mat at 7.8'.

[3on3putt]

3.) When your wife held up the projector at 14 feet, wasn't the image way too big for the screen? Uh...yeah it cover the screen, both sides of the enclosure and side walls above the enclosure using the test grid. My concern at that point was a shadow. The wife was having trouble holding it for very long so…

I'm still curious about e6 Connect and how different resolutions can be said to fit the image on the screen correctly. As you can possibly see from the picture with the projector on the mat, I wasn't that impressed with the picture quality. I guess I was use to looking at a 4K TV when I used the Net Return. Also the wife is looking for thick black material from Michael's that we can hang on the back side of the screen that may help.

I was looking at projectorcentral.com and disappointed they don't have any HD 4:3 aspect ratio projectors. One of the selling points I read about the Darbee was full HD and dropping down to the 4:3 resolution stays well above XGA. To be honest I don't remember what the resolution ended up being when I was making adjustments through e6 Connect and the image finally filled the screen. It may very well hav dropped down to XGA resolution sitting on the mat at 7.8'.

1.) The image quality on an impact screen will never compare to that of a TV or computer monitor. You're always going to lose a little bit. Even if the resolution is technically the same, it will always look a little different on the impact screen.

2.) The Darbee, like many projectors, is 1920x1080 native, which is "full HD" and a 16:9 aspect ratio. When you switch it over to 4:3, you should still get a resolution that is somewhere between XGA and Full HD. So in other words, it won't be as sharp as the native resolution, but it will still be better than XGA. Unfortunately, running an image in 4:3 forces you to sacrifice a little bit of image quality in exchange for filling up more of the screen.

3.) Blankets and sheets behind the screen definitely help to capture some of the bleed through. I always advocate for white, because your impact screen is white. But I know there are some who use black. I have several white blankets behind mine and there is no bleed through on the wall behind it. Also, it looks a little light in the room in that picture. Do you have the lights on or any windows? Go ahead and cover up any windows with blackout curtains and kill the lights so that the only light in the room is from your projector.

Don't try to hatch the chicken before the egg. By that I mean instead of just slapping up a projector and then trying to fiddle with settings to make it work, figure out where you can safely place a projector and then buy a projector that fits that throw distance for your screen size. If you were going to mount it on the roof brace which is 14 feet away and your screen size is 108 inchesx108 inches, look for something with a throw ratio of about 1.2. For example, check out this one =

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

It appears that this particular one cannot be ceiling mounted, but just giving an example of the type of throw ratio you would need to mount that far back. This one can be floor mounted at 13.5 feet and cast an image that will fill your screen from right to left. (I can't say for sure whether or not you will have shadow issues doing that, but just for the sake of mounting a projector in the correct spot with the correct throw ratio.)

[ce2]

Projector was honestly the hardest thing to find, when it came to figuring out placement, throw ratio (including zoom variances for different uses) and budget. I was in a similar position with using a ceiling mounted short throw vs floor mount vs shelf mount behind with risk of shadow.

Ultimately it came down to a few points:
1) I didn't feel comfortable with a ceiling mount because my ceilings are already low and I have friends who have... contemporary... swings. Same thing for floor mount (not much distance to screen as I wanted seating at the back of the sim).
2) Wanted to use 4:3 to maximise screen size for the sim time, but wanted something that would fit (albeit with zoom changes) 16:9 if I wanted to watch a movie, game or put on sports when we have people round ours. Sure it won't compare to the 4k inside but what will...
3) Found a projector with the right throw ratio that had both vertical and horizontal lens shift for a good price. This allowed me to figure out which corner of the room I can place it with the best results (top back left corner of room if looking at screen). For a RH swing hitting off center, there will be a small shadow in the bottom right of the screen on drives and FW woods but nothing else!

Like has been said above I think 4:3 display through FHD projectors see largely better than xga because of their native pixel size, but I've not really looked into it for the technical details (thankfully as a techie in work life, its not based around visual displays).

Does the darbee have vertical/horizontal shift? With a zoom of 0.8-2.0 you could mount it anywhere to be honest. If it has horizontal shift specifically, you should be more than fine to put it anywhere you like to avoid swing hits or shadows!

[Skyking]

Yes the GT1080 Darbee has image shift ce...interesting post, thanks. The wife and grandkids are going to the beach so while they’re gone I’m gonna play around with this darn thing and try to figure out what I can do with it.

Funny you mention heavy white material vs black 3putt. The wife suggested white when I first told her it would help with image bleed through. Plus with white there’s no worry about staining. The picture attached was taken at the same time as the other one but with the lights dim or off...can’t remember. Hopefully with temps in the mid-90’s at home while we’re gone, the heat inside the shed should help relax the wrinkles on the screen.

[wbond]

I don't believe the GT1080 Darbee has lens shift. This is directly from the optoma site for this projector under the specs tab. Reason I ask is i have the GT1080 and this would have been very helpful. But i don't believe it does.

Yes the GT1080 Darbee has image shift ce...interesting post, thanks. The wife and grandkids are going to the beach so while they’re gone I’m gonna play around with this darn thing and try to figure out what I can do with it.

Funny you mention heavy white material vs black 3putt. The wife suggested white when I first told her it would help with image bleed through. Plus with white there’s no worry about staining. The picture attached was taken at the same time as the other one but with the lights dim or off...can’t remember. Hopefully with temps in the mid-90’s at home while we’re gone, the heat inside the shed should help relax the wrinkles on the screen.

[Skyking]

Hum...got this from the manual and I remember doing a little adjusting...not a lot available it seemed. Unless...we’re talking about 2 different things, which with my state of confusion over a projector would certainly be possible.

[wbond]

That is interesting. I didn't know that was possible. Part is my confusion as well in regards to image shift vs lens shift. Now I need to dig a little deeper as to what this actually does and the affect on the image.

[Skyking]

Fired up the projector in a room with a wall within a few inches of the exact screen dimensions and yes it does have image shift. Kids back from the beach, ran in the room and wanted to watch a YouTube episode of Oquanauts. With zoom at 0, image shift as low as it would go, the back legs as high as they would go, about 7’ away, the image was near perfect everywhere but the bottom. About a foot from the bottom of the “screen”.

[jetergr]

Looks great! I’m actually currently in the process of convincing my wife to let me do a shed well. So far, not a lot of luck. 😀

Random question though... I saw you previously had a net return in the shed. What will you be doing with it now that you have a screen? If you’re considering selling it, I’ve been in the market for a used one. Please message me if that’s something that interests you!!

[Skyking]

Looks great! I’m actually currently in the process of convincing my wife to let me do a shed well. So far, not a lot of luck. 😀

Random question though... I saw you previously had a net return in the shed. What will you be doing with it now that you have a screen? If you’re considering selling it, I’ve been in the market for a used one. Please message me if that’s something that interests you!!

Hey jetergr! Just a piece of advice, I would NOT go smaller than 12 x 20 on a shed. I’ll post a pic next week when it’s all set up. I have an elevated bar table, 2 elevated director chairs behind the hitting area and a A\C unit...that’s it. I’m sure a bag of clubs or 2 will fit but it’s tight. Heck, I though ALL my golf stuff would fit in there (as did the wife). I’ll take another look at the setup when I get home this weekend.

I sent you a PM on the net. I’m sure we can work something out thats mutually beneficial. Best built net and structure I’ve ever seen. I remember seeing the Net Return guys at the Philly Golf show 8 years ago and had wanted one ever since. Too bad I only got to use it 1.5 months.

[What4]

oh that's awesome. it never even occurred to me to use a shed for the sim. great idea!