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**3on3putt** · 04-07-2021, 03:57 PM

1. I can't see 11 feet of depth working. The closest you can reasonably hit to a screen is maybe 6 feet. That only leaves 5 feet behind which is awfully tight and that doesn't even account for some space between the screen and the wall. I don't think you would be comfortable swinging in a space like that.

2. I'm not so sure 13'4'' will allow for righties and lefties to hit from the same spot. It's probably close to being on that threshold but certainly not a slam dunk. If I were you I would take a driver in there and make some slow motion swings righty and lefty to feel out the space some more. Mine is about 13 wide and I still hit offset. What is the range of view of the Uneekor? May be able to hit from 2 different spots as long as they are close enough to both be in the field of view.

3. Have you considered putting up a wall or two in the larger room to close it off more? I did that for my sim room in the garage. I wanted to have a separate room that wouldn't bleed into the kids bikes and lawnmower and all the other crap in the garage. So I just built two walls out of 2x4s and dry wall and created a dedicated room that is blocked off from everything else. May be able to do something similar.

4. Do you know some lefties that you anticipate hitting in there much? If not, the 11 wide and 13 deep option might be best.

5. The Optoma 1080 does not have 16:10. You can customize a resolution to fill a 16:10 screen, but that will require backing up the projector even more and cutting into your image quality. I would probably try to go 12x9 (4:3).

**underwaterDMS** · 04-07-2021, 04:16 PM

3on3-- Thanks for your comments!

That was kinda my fear with the 11 foot deep dimension. Are you reasonably comfortable that 13'4" is a deep enough room? Or should I let this dedicated "golf room" dream die?

Realistically, I don't have a single close friend who is a leftie golfer, and I care far less about having a setup that is geared towards lefties. How big of a deal is it for you hitting offset? Do you set up hitting straight ahead, or do you have yourself angled to hit towards the center of the screen?

If I go 11 wide and 13'4" deep, I think I would limited to a 8x10.5 screen from Carls. I was planning on doing a customized resolution on the Optoma to fill whatever size screen I do. In the case of the 8x10.5, would be doing 4:3.

The main basement room is a huge wide open space. My wife is not crazy about the idea of segmenting it.

**Sixmudd** · 04-07-2021, 04:27 PM

7-9 feet is probably the sweet spot from ball to impact screen. Allow for some space off the wall to screen. Then take a few practice swings with driver and measure how back you need with a comfortable driver swing. But I agree 11 feet is probably not going to work unless you’re just hitting wedges all day. Just my opinion though

**3on3putt** · 04-07-2021, 04:30 PM

13'4 is still going to be tight but it's doable. Again, take a driver in there and make some slow motion swings to find what could be a reasonable hitting spot. It may still feel a bit suffocating but at least you should have room to swing. May take a while to conquer the indoor swing syndrome that might accompany a room of that size.

I don't mind hitting offset. I barely even notice it anymore. I just hit straight at the screen. Most sim and practice software has an offset feature that allows you to slide the starting point of the ball over to where you're hitting from so it lines up the real ball with the digital ball. Personally, I wouldn't bend over backwards to accommodate lefties if you don't even know any who would really be using it. Go with what's going to work for you.

As far as the larger room goes ..... what if you compromised with a sliding curtain that can open and close? That way you can still partition off the room? I definitely know what you mean about wanting to have a dedicated room. That was important to me too which is why I built the walls. But there are advantages to having it in a more wide open space as well such as having plenty of room for spectators to watch and easier for multi-player use. No way would anyone else be able to be in the 11x13 room other than the person hitting. Maybe go with the larger room but put it in a corner so that it's already walled off on one side? Actually if you faced it the right way you could wall it off on 3 sides (2 sides being walls and a third side being the screen).

**wbond** · 04-07-2021, 05:20 PM

Do you plan on being the only person using it? If not the small room is going to get even smaller with one additional bag and person. I would use the larger area for sure, less cramped, better projector placement, more area for others to jhang around and play. I use an area that’s about 20x20 and with four people, it’s still a little cramped.

**underwaterDMS** · 04-07-2021, 06:24 PM

Thank you everyone! All excellent points. Particularly factoring in a friend joining me, that small room would likely be very cramped. My heart wanted the dedicated room, but you've all convinced me the bigger area is the way to go.

To minimize footprint and keep the wife happy, I don't think I can go wider than 12'. Unfortunately I think Carl's 9x12 DIY enclosure is JUST an inch or two taller than will fit in the basement, so would have to go with the 11.5x8.5 if I wanted to do 4:3 or 12x8 if I wanted to try running a customized resolution to fill a 16:10 ratio. While I know a bit more about projectors and resolution settings than before all my research, I am certainly no expert. With a native 1920x1080 projector like the Optoma, what is going to look better for golf simulation? Should I be considering a sliding mount for the projector, so I can have it at 7'4" for projecting 4:3 for golf and can move it to 5'5" for projecting 16:9 for movie watching?

3on3-- For placement in the larger room, I was planning on putting it in the corner and having a sliding screen/curtain for both sides, with the back side open. I suppose I could always add another sliding curtain in the back if it becomes an issue to be swinging and having the kids playing in the basement. I have some high quality sports netting left over from an outdoor hitting cage that I built last spring. I could hang that or go the curtain route.

**3on3putt** · 04-07-2021, 06:44 PM

Originally posted by underwaterDMS View Post

Thank you everyone! All excellent points. Particularly factoring in a friend joining me, that small room would likely be very cramped. My heart wanted the dedicated room, but you've all convinced me the bigger area is the way to go.

To minimize footprint and keep the wife happy, I don't think I can go wider than 12'. Unfortunately I think Carl's 9x12 DIY enclosure is JUST an inch or two taller than will fit in the basement, so would have to go with the 11.5x8.5 if I wanted to do 4:3 or 12x8 if I wanted to try running a customized resolution to fill a 16:10 ratio. While I know a bit more about projectors and resolution settings than before all my research, I am certainly no expert. With a native 1920x1080 projector like the Optoma, what is going to look better for golf simulation? Should I be considering a sliding mount for the projector, so I can have it at 7'4" for projecting 4:3 for golf and can move it to 5'5" for projecting 16:9 for movie watching?

3on3-- For placement in the larger room, I was planning on putting it in the corner and having a sliding screen/curtain for both sides, with the back side open. I suppose I could always add another sliding curtain in the back if it becomes an issue to be swinging and having the kids playing in the basement. I have some high quality sports netting left over from an outdoor hitting cage that I built last spring. I could hang that or go the curtain route.

If you can find a 16:10 projector to run on the 12x8 screen, that would be choice #1. That would cast an image 7'6'' high, so you would have 3 inches of blank space on top and 3 inches of blank space on bottom. You could use zoom or a custom resolution to squash that out and fill it if that's important. Honestly though, 3 inches is hardly noticeable.

If you go the 16:10 route, I would advise finding a projector that is 16:10 native. I would not advise using that Optoma and putting it in 16:9 and then trying to fill the rest of it with a custom resolution. You're going to kill the image quality that way because you're going to have to turn 81 vertical inches into 96 vertical inches. That's pushing the limits of image degradation (not to mention you'll have to back the projector way up to do so which brings your shadow into play). If you found a 16:10 projector and wanted to fill that screen, you would only be turning 90 inches into 96 which is a bit more reasonable. Unfortunately, the 16:10 projector market is not nearly as big as the 16:9 / 4:3 market.

The 11.5x8.5 4:3 would be my choice #2. No manipulation needed. I tend to favor a 4:3 native image (1440x1080) vs. a 1920x1080 that's been blown up and pixelated to fit a screen. Just my personal opinion of course.

Also, I wouldn't rule out a 12x9 screen. May not work with that Carl's enclosure but you might be able to do it if you hang the screen directly from the ceiling. That of course gives you an easy 4:3 as well.

With 9'4'' ceilings and a screen that is either 8 or 8.5 feet high, just be mindful of the vertical offset for any projector you use. That Optoma would be cutting it close. Might want to think BenQ instead for the shorter vertical offsets that you are likely to need.

**underwaterDMS** · 04-07-2021, 07:14 PM

LOL. Just when I thought I was starting to make some progress understanding projector options, I'm right back to square one again. I had wanted to go the route of 1920x1080, because I thought I was doing better by getting more pixels as opposed to getting a 16:10 projector, like the 1280x800 BenQ MW632ST, but maybe this is faulty thinking? I had assumed more pixels were better, even if it meant running in a non-native resolution.

Here is why I thought I was making a good choice with the Optoma. I calculated that for a 164" diagonal image (8.5x11.5), the throw distance would be 7'3", which I thought would be safe if my hitting area was around 9', and in fact I liked the idea of if being a bit closer to the screen, as that should yield a brighter picture? Additionally, at that distance, vertical offset winds up being 16". My ceiling height is 112 inches, and the screen is 98.5 inches tall, and so I thought a vertical offset of 16" more or less wound up being close to perfect? For lower offset projectors like the benQ, I thought that would mean I had to drop it down from my already borderline low ceiling to get down to my screen which is only 99" tall in a 112" room.. maybe I'm totally off??? I'm sure I'm misunderstanding it all.

Regarding native 1440x1080 projectors with short throws, I am not sure I know of any? If one exists, can you point me in the right direction?

**3on3putt** · 04-07-2021, 07:33 PM

Originally posted by underwaterDMS View Post

LOL. Just when I thought I was starting to make some progress understanding projector options, I'm right back to square one again. I had wanted to go the route of 1920x1080, because I thought I was doing better by getting more pixels as opposed to getting a 16:10 projector, like the 1280x800 BenQ MW632ST, but maybe this is faulty thinking? I had assumed more pixels were better, even if it meant running in a non-native resolution.

Here is why I thought I was making a good choice with the Optoma. I calculated that for a 164" diagonal image (8.5x11.5), the throw distance would be 7'3", which I thought would be safe if my hitting area was around 9', and in fact I liked the idea of if being a bit closer to the screen, as that should yield a brighter picture? Additionally, at that distance, vertical offset winds up being 16". My ceiling height is 112 inches, and the screen is 98.5 inches tall, and so I thought a vertical offset of 16" more or less wound up being close to perfect? For lower offset projectors like the benQ, I thought that would mean I had to drop it down from my already borderline low ceiling to get down to my screen which is only 99" tall in a 112" room.. maybe I'm totally off??? I'm sure I'm misunderstanding it all.

Regarding native 1440x1080 projectors with short throws, I am not sure I know of any? If one exists, can you point me in the right direction?

You are correct in that the more pixels the better. In the case of 16:10 though, you're looking at 1920x1200 as being the closest competitor to the 1920x1080. A 1280x800 is 16:10, but it's a lower resolution 16:10 (just like 1280x720 is a lower resolution 16:9). So you are on the right track there. You may just not have realized there are higher 16:10 resolutions than 1280x800. 1920x1200 beats 1920x1080.

In regards to your last question about 1440x1080 projectors, what I meant there was that 1440x1080 is the resolution you get when running a 1920x1080 projector in 4:3. I probably shouldn't have used the word "native" when I made that point as that is misleading and confusing. But what I meant was I would rather run 1920x1080 in 4:3 and have a resolution that is 1440x1080 that has not had the pixels blown up vs. running 1920x1080 with an image that has had the pixels enlarged in order to fill a screen space. More pixels are better, yes, but not when those extra pixels have been enlarged to the point where the image quality starts to suffer. That's what a lot of people run into when trying to fill their screens. A little bit of enlargement is fine because it won't be noticeable to the naked eye. But when you start trying to fill 2 feet of blank screen space the quality of the image suffers and becomes noticeable as those pixels get pretty big.

Now as for the middle part of your post about the Optoma ....

In 16:9, you would be putting it 5'9'' inches away to fill an 11' 6'' screen horizontally (138 inches). That makes the image 78 inches tall (6' 6'').

In 4:3, you would be putting it 7' 8'' away to fill 138 inches wide. That makes the image 103 inches tall. (138x103 = 4:3). Use width instead of diagonal when using the throw distance calculator.

Your ceiling is 112 inches, so you have 9 inches between top of image and ceiling. And that's if the image starts on the floor. The vertical offset of that Optoma at that range is 16 inches, which is too much.

I think you got confused on your screen height. 8'6'' screen is 102 inches, not 98.5 as you had said.

**underwaterDMS** · 04-07-2021, 08:06 PM

Ok. I think perhaps part of my issue was using diagonal measurement when using the throw distance calculator.

So just for the sake of simplicity, if I went with a 4:3 setup (be it 11.5x8.5 or 12x9), and ran a 1920x1080 in 4:3 at 1440x1080, that's a reasonable way to go? I guess I just haven't had much luck finding good options for 16:10 projectors.

The BenQ TH671ST seems like a reasonable choice to be doing this, particularly with its smaller vertical offset? My concern is that the throw distance is getting to be a bit long. For a 131" wide screen (11.5x8.5), the throw distance is 10'11", which can be reduced to 10" at the wide angle end of its zoom. I really don't think I can/should have a hitting distance of more than 8-9' with the low ceilings of 9'4". If I hit from 8', and have the projector at 10', does that leave enough room for my QED 3.5' behind the ball? With a vertical offset of only 2", I will have to drop my projector a bit from the ceiling to get the image down to my 98" screen, increasing the possibility of the projector getting in the way of the QED seeing my hitting area. I suppose the other way I could go is to use the telephoto end of it's range, which requires a throw distance of 12'1", hit from ~8 feet and have my QED in between the projector and my mat. I'm not super familiar with the Uneekor technology, and don't know if it likes sensing the hitting area through the projected image...

**3on3putt** · 04-07-2021, 08:36 PM

1. 1440x1080 is perfectly fine. That's what I use. My space limits my screen to 9x9 so I use 4:3 with a 1920x1080 chopped down to 1440x1080. It's a very crisp image. Being able to control the lighting is always key. The darker the better. If you hang some curtains like you said, go for some blackout curtains to minimize the amount of light that gets in your sim space.

2. Like I said, the 16:10 market has dried up quite a bit in recent years as most things are now being formatted for 16:9. That's why you aren't finding much luck there. There's still plenty of them out there, but it's tough finding one with the throw distance that's needed for golf sim use.

3. That BenQ is very popular for golf sims. A lot of people here have that one. A good rule of thumb for hitting distance is to go no more than your screen height. So if your screen is 9 feet tall, 9 feet back would be about the limit. Not a hard and fast rule, but a general measuring stick to go by that should keep you from wedging balls over the screen.

4. Let's make sure you're getting your math right. A screen that is 11.5 wide is 138 inches, not 132. And if it's 8.5 tall, it's 102 inches, not 98. I think you're forgetting to add those extra inches on the width and height. 11x8 would be 132x96.

5. I unfortunately will be no help as far as the QED distance goes. I do not have one and don't know enough about them to offer anything there.

If the position of the QED will be an issue, you may just have to go with the smaller image and the Optoma or an InFocus or something else with a shorter throw distance and some vertical offset and just live with the blank space. It's not perfect, but I think people make a bigger deal out of than it really is. The Optoma you referenced could go 124 inches wide and 93 inches tall from 6' 10'' away. The 15 inches of vertical offset should work if the image starts on the floor. (93 inches of image + 15 inches of vertical offset = 108 inches, which keeps you under your 112 inch ceiling). And you'll be able to mount it flush so that it's out of the way. That's an image size of 10' 4'' wide and 7' 7'' high. If the screen is 11.5x8.5 you're just leaving about 6 inches of unused space on the right and left sides and then about a foot on top.

It's not perfect, but when dealing with space restrictions sacrifices usually have to be made.

Also check out the InFocus 138HDST. Same throw distance and vertical offset as the Optoma but more lumens and lamp life in the same price range.

**3on3putt** · 04-07-2021, 08:50 PM

Think you could go 14 wide on the screen? If you could, you could go 16:9 with 14 wide and just under 8 tall. That would allow you to have a nice 16:9 aspect ratio and fill the entire screen and still leave you enough room for vertical offset purposes (image would be 95 inches high, which is 17 inches less than your ceiling).

It's only 2 extra feet. Better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission lol.

**underwaterDMS** · 04-07-2021, 10:31 PM

haha. Now you're just trying to get me in trouble. However, realistically, IF I was to just hang a screen or do a very shallow enclosure (1-2 feet), I could actually probably pull that off... and MAN would I love a nice wide setup like that. I had been planning on doing a 5' deep enclosure, but if I were to just do a screen only or have a 1-2 foot deep customized enclosure, I can't possibly see how those extra two feet of wall space taken up by the screen would make too much of a difference. I had been mentally locked in on the idea of having a 5' deep enclosure, but perhaps I need to be thinking about other options. Given my low ceilings and my high ball flight, the ceiling protection afforded by a 5' deep enclosure really appealed to me. However, I've seen plenty of builds by others on this site that have all sorts of tiles and panels up on the ceiling. Now of course I need to be figuring out all the ins and outs of how one goes about hanging a screen without a frame, protecting the ceiling at the point of contact from balls, etc etc etc

Regarding my math, I think the issue is that I've been referring to the dimensions of the enclosures that are made by Carl's Place.
What they list as 8.5x11.5 has a viewable screen width of 131.33 and viewable screen height of 98.5, with a diagonal of 164. I think their listing size is a lot closer to the external dimensions of the frame, with the viewable screen size being slightly smaller. Sorry for that confusion I caused!

**3on3putt** · 04-07-2021, 11:04 PM

5 feet is not uncommon but also not totally necessary. Mine is only 2.5 feet with no issues. I like not having that front crossbar so close. It can also interfere with the projector image as well if it sticks out too far. So you could just go with a shallower roof. If you want to hang directly from the ceiling, you can use angle iron and then hang the screen from there with bungees and tarp clips.

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