The most common way to mount/install a projector in a golf simulator set up is to mount it in the ceiling. Of course there are other ways to do it such as putting it on the floor or on a table off the side, however in our opinion, the ceiling mount option is by far the cleanest and most professional looking way to get the job done, especially in a sim golf scenario.
However, unless you are an AV expert or a DIY guru, the job of mounting a projector to your ceiling can definitely be a daunting task.
Apart from getting familiar with all the projector related technical jargons like throw distance, aspect ratio and keystone adjustments, you will need to figure out where to mount the projector, get a projector mount and put all the pieces together to finally deliver that immersive simulator golf experience that you have spent your hard-earned dollars on.
We recently ceiling mounted a projector as part of setting up our new showroom, so we've taken the opportunity to document the entire process in this article. We hope that it will help you if you are doing some research on how you can ceiling mount your projector for your golf simulator set up.
Once you understand how everything fits together, it's actually not as difficult as you may think and you can get it done in a couple of hours.
Let's go through the steps now.
Get to know your projector / Get the right projector
If you have already purchased a projector, there are a couple of key elements that you will need to take into consideration when mounting it.
Throw distance
This is the distance that your projector needs to be from your impact screen to fill the screen as much as possible*.
As different projectors have different throw ratios, we recommend always using an online throw distance calculator to work out how far away you need to position your projector for the size of impact screen you have. Projector central has a good distance calculator, you can find it here.
As an example, if you have an Optoma GT1080HDR short throw projector, and you are trying to fill a 4m x 3m screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio output, then the throw distance calculator will give you a throw distance of 2.67m, see below.
*Note on filling your screen - as pre-set aspect ratios (e.g. 4:3, 16:9) don't necessarily correlate with the sizes of impact screens, it may not always be possible to fill the entire screen from corner to corner, especially if you are using a tablet/phone instead of a PC. Some higher end projectors offer a certain amount of adjustability which allows you to stretch the image to fill the screen a little bit more to get a bigger fill. So depending on the projector and device you are working with, a corner-to-corner fill is not always achievable.
Adjustability
Adjustability becomes really important you are not able to mount your projector at the precise throw distance that is required or if you can't align it with the centre of the impact screen.
Here are the key adjustment functions to look out for:
- Zoom - projectors which offers zoom can enlarge or shrink the projected image, which means you will have a little bit more leeway in terms of the throw distance. So if you are unable to find a stud/beam in your ceiling precisely where the calculator says you need to place the projector, having a projector which offers zoom will help.
- Horizontal Keystone Correction - if you are not able to align the projector to the centre of the impact screen, then horizontal keystone correction becomes essential. Normally, if you mount the projector off-centre, then the image which comes out will look distorted. Horizontal keystone correction essentially gives you some ability to restore the image back.
So if you have space constraints where you are not going to be able to hit the ball to the centre of the impact screen, you may want to position the projector also to the side so you don't collect it on your follow through (yes - speaking from experience!).
Due to the dimensions of our showroom, we can only have a 'off centre' set up where we will be hitting to the right side of the screen. So having this adjustment is essential for our set up.
We are also starting to see projectors which offer 'four corner adjustment', which allows you to 'drag' the corners of the projected image to fit your screen. This is essentially a combination of zoom and keystone adjustments and offers a bit more user-friendliness. Just note that whether you are talking about zoom, keystone or four-corner adjustment, there will be a limit to how much you can adjust, so if have an odd sized impact screen or if you can't mount the projector within a reasonable 'ball park' of where it is required, then you will get a sub-optimal screen fill.
Ideally these factors have already been considered as part of your projector buying process and you already have a pretty good idea on where you will be positioning your projector.
If you are still in the process of deciding on which projector will best suit your set up. Make sure you consider these factors when making your purchasing desision. Also be sure to check out our buying guide on how to choose the right Projector for your Golf Simulator set up which walks you through this process in more detail.
Position your projector
Now that you've worked out where you will need to position the projector, don't start drilling holes on your ceiling right away!
We would always advise our customers to connect up all the cords / devices to first test that you are able to project an image from your device through the projector.
Once you know that everything is connected up and projecting, just hold the projector up to where you are going to mount it and make sure you are able to achieve a reasonable image fill.
Make sure you do the following during this step:
- Set your projection mode to ceiling mount
- Set your projector to your desired aspect ratio - normally 4:3 is the standard for sim golf
- Use the adjustments available to get things dialled in as well
This will validate that your calculations are correct and make sure you don't have to rework the mounting point.
Quick word on cables
One other consideration when you are mounting your projector on the ceiling is the length of cables you will need and where they are going to go.
In most cases you will need a power extension cable and a longer HDMI cable to make it work so keep that in mind.
There are casting options available which means you won't need a HDMI cable but it will require a bit more tech know-how to get working.
As everyone's set up is a bit different and there's no right or wrong way to organise your cables, we just want to make sure that you take this into consideration.
Holding the projector up with everything connected will also give you a good idea that the length of cables that you have will be sufficient, treat it like a dress rehearsal.
Get the right projector mount
There are generally 2 options for projector mounts:
- Get the mount from the same manufacturer as the projector. This will give you a good fit for the projector, but the downside is that they tend to be on the more expensive side.
- Get a generic mount. There are many options of generic projector mounts on the market but essentially all do the same job.
We have always gone for the cheaper generic mounts and they have thus far worked really well. So this time we've gone for a $19.95 (yes you read correct, see below) universal mount from Officeworks for our showroom set up and as you will see, it worked great.
Generic projector mounts come with adjustable arms and different sized screws to fit most projector models.
Couple of things to also consider when purchasing a projector mount:
- Weight of your projector - make sure your mount can handle the weight of your projector. Most mounts will adequately work for the average projector which are mostly all less than 5kgs. But if you have something that is over 10kgs, please make sure you opt for a heavy duty mount.
- Height of your ceiling - if your ceiling is too high, you may need a mount with an extension arm so that you can get the projector to be positioned more or less level with the top of your impact screen, see an example below.
Attach the ceiling plate
Typically a projector mount will come in two parts, a plate which attaches to your ceiling and a bracket which attaches to the projector and you just connect the two parts at the end.
When it comes to attaching the ceiling plate, the key is to ensure that the spot on the ceiling that you are going to attach the mount to is weight-bearing. Typically this would be a frame/stud that you can locate using a stud finder or solid concrete.
If there's no frame/stud where you need the projector to be, then you can either see if you can move the impact screen/enclosure to make it work or you may need to get a projector which offers some adjustments.
Once you are happy with the spot, then drill away and attach the ceiling plate.
With our showroom, as it's a floating ceiling, we've had to improvise a little and we ended up using some long metal brackets to straddle across the frames that hold up the ceiling panels (see below), it works a treat!
Attach the projector bracket
The next step is to attach the projector bracket.
Most projectors will come with screw holes which allow you to attach a bracket with.
If you are using a manufacturer's bracket, it will be very straight forward, match the holes on the projector with those on the bracket and secure with screws.
If you are using a generic bracket, as it's designed to be a one-product-fits-all, you will need to make adjustments to the arms on the bracket to get things to match up.
Once you get the arms to match the screw holes on the projector, then pick the screws that will fit the projector and secure the bracket (see below). Now the projector is ready to be mounted.
Connect everything
Now you can just connect the two parts of the projector mount together and with a bit of luck it will now hang from your ceiling.
Now you can connect the power cable, HDMI etc and fire up the projector.
Initially the image will not be where you need it but now we can fine tune it using the projector mount.
Final Adjustments
Now hopefully you have a projector that is hanging from the ceiling and is projecting an image at your impact screen.
It's time to adjust the position of the projector to achieve an optimal fill on the screen.
Most projector mounts will allow you to tilt the projector up and down, left to right as well as swivel the projector to adjust where it's pointed. Play with those adjustment until you have achieve a good fill of the screen. Once you've done that, tighten everything up and hopefully you won't need to touch it again.
If your projector comes with adjustment capabilities, then you can use those in conjunction with the adjustment from the mount to fine tune things.
In our case, as we had to mount the projector off-centre, we used the 'corner fit' function of the projector to get the image to straighten up, and we reckon the result looks pretty good!
All up it took 1 person about 1.5hrs to get everything done, including the final adjustments, but we have done this a couple of times before so it may take a little bit longer for someone who's not too familiar with the process, but as long as you plan things out beforehand and have a projector and a mount that are suitable for your space, then it should not be that difficult.
And your reward for all that hard work? Hours upon hours of immersive sim golf! ⛳
Final Thoughts
Mounting a projector is not as daunting a task as you may think, we believe that the key is all the preparation. Getting the right projector, the right mount and figuring out where you are going to hang it and even how you are going to organise your cables beforehand will really save a lot of time and effort and give you a much better result.
We hope that by documenting how we mounted our projector in our showroom has given you a feel for how you can do the same for your set up.
If you have any further questions on mounting your projector or choosing the right projector for you or any feedback at all, please feel free to contact us, we'd love to hear from you!