The projector is a vital part of the puzzle for anyone who is looking to set up an top quality home golf simulator that offers an immersive experience. It can really enhance the simulator golf experience and bring that WOW factor.
Yet selecting the right projector can be a difficult process for many as there are a number of important technical details that will need to be taken into consideration.
Couple this complexity with the hefty price tag that's associated with these products, it's not a surprise that many simulator golfers find the projector buying experience a daunting one.
In this article, we go through the key factors when choosing a projector for your golf simulator set up, and we hope that it will help to simplify the process for you and help you to pick the right product for your specific needs.
For simplicity, we have categorised these factors into 'very important' and 'maybe important', and if you get the 'very important' stuff right, we are confident that you will be happy with the choice that you make.
Ok let's go through the really important factors.
Very Important Factors
In our opinion, there are 4 features of the projector that you will absolutely need to get right.
Brightness (Lumens)
The key difference between a golf simulator and a home cinema set up is that you will inevitably have some ambient lighting for your simulator set up - you will need to at least be able to see the ball somehow :)
From our experience testing different projectors, we recommend a projector which has a minimum brightness of 3500 ANSI lumens, and the higher the better.
And if you don't recognise the brand of the projector, make sure it's ANSI lumens, as some projectors claim a certain brightness in lumens but if they don't explicitly state that it's ANSI lumens. In those cases, it's best to take the claim with a pinch of salt.
High brightness is the best way to combat 'wash out' that is caused by ambient lighting. See photo below of an image produced by a projector with 4000 lumens and the image still looks great under full ambient lighting.
Personally, I prefer to play simulator golf with full ambient lighting, it just feels more natural.
Of course, typically the higher the lumens the higher the price tag. So if you are in a situation where you need to keep the budget down. You can still make a lower lumen unit work with a darker setting and you might be able to get away with just having a spotlight shining on the ball/hitting area.
Throw Distance
Simply put, throw distance is how far back the projector needs to be situated in order for the projected image to fill your impact screen. When it comes to throw distance, there are typically 2 types of projectors:
Short Throw Projector
As the name suggests, short throw projectors require less distance to fill up the screen. For example, you may only need 2m-2.5m to fill a 3m wide screen, which in simulator golfing terms mean that the projector is basically mounted directly above the hitting zone.
Short throw projectors are very popular for simulator golf set ups due to the following reasons:
- As the projector is not situated behind you, you will not cast a shadow on the screen as you swing.
- If you have limited depth in your set up, a short throw projector will allow you to fill a bigger screen.
Standard Throw Projector
Standard throw projectors typically will require around twice the distance of the short-throw units to fill up a screen.
You might want to consider getting a standard throw projector for the following reasons:
- As the projector will be situated behind you, there's less likelihood of it being accidently hit by a swinging golf club or a ball.
- All things being equal, the standard throw projector will tend to be slightly cheaper.
In general terms a short throw projector will deliver a better simulator golfing experience as you will not cast a shadow on the screen.
However, if you are not comfortable with having a projector mounted directly above you and you have the space behind you, then a standard throw projector will be the way to go.
To learn more about projector throw distances and calculate the distance required to fill your screen for different models of projectors, be sure to check out the Projector Calculator from projector central, it's a fantastic resource.
In the example below, I was able to quickly calculate that I would need to mount a Optoma GT2100HDR projector (short throw) 198cm away from the screen to fill a 3m wide screen.
Resolution
Now we come to the HD vs. 4K debate.
In our humble opinion, for home golf simulator use, unless you are looking to go all out with a 4K capable simulator software and a gaming PC, then you should just go with a HD projector and either keep the price difference in your back pocket or go for more brightness.
Yes you will get more pixels with a 4K projector, but unless your simulator software and PC are capable of producing 4K quality images, you are not really getting much benefit.
In my set up, I primarily use E6 or Awesome Golf with a 1980p HD projector hooked up to my ipad and the result is fantastic.
So unless you are definitely committed to the 4K simulator experience, then a 1080p HD projector may just be good enough.
Adjustability
The ability to adjust the projected image is not something that gets talked about a lot, but it's a very important factor when it comes to the installation of your projector. The important factors to consider when it comes to adjustability are zoom and keystone.
Zoom
Zoom is the ability to adjust the size of the image being projected and can either be done optically or digitally or both.
Projectors which have zoom will offer some flexibility in terms of the distance required to the screen. In other words, you will just need to get the projector 'far enough' from the screen and then use the zoom function to line the image up with your projector to get a perfect fit which can make the installation process a bit easier.
For projectors which don't offer zoom, you will need to be more precise with where to mount it so that the image will fill up the screen.
It's particularly useful if you are opting for a standard throw projector and the image is not quite filling up your screen due to space constraints. The zoom function might just give you that 10% extra image size.
Keystone Correction
Essentially keystone correction is the ability for a projector to 'correct' the image when the projector is not pointed directly at the centre of the screen. Typically there are 2 types of keystone functions:
- Vertical keystone - this function comes pretty much standard with most projectors and allows the projector to auto correct the image when the projector is situated on the ceiling or on the floor (vertical axis).
- Horizontal keystone - this function is less common and can be really useful in a golf simulator scenario. A projector with horizontal keystone will allow you to get a 'square' image even if the projector is situated to the side of the screen.
If you are not able to easily mount a projector along the centre of your screen or prefer to have it on the side of your screen for safety reasons then having a projector with horizontal keystone correction is critical.
So that was the 4 most important factors when choosing a projector. We are confident that if you get those factors covered you will be able to get the right projector for your needs. In general, we also recommend that you go with a more reputable brand that have a good reputation.
Some other factors
Here are some other factor which may be important, especially if you want to use the simulator for other purposes, e.g. home cinema, gaming etc.
- Light source (Laser vs. Lamp) - whilst a laser projector is definitely capable of producing a better quality image, the main difference between the 2 options is in the expected lifespan of the light source. You can expect laser projectors to last up to 20,000 - 30,000 hours whilst a lamp based projectors may only last 4,000 hours. The picture quality might also degrade towards the end for a lamp based projector. However, if we put this in a simulator golf context, and say you play for 2 hours everyday, you will still get 6 years out of a lamp projector. So whilst laser definitely makes sense for a commercial set up, if you are setting up a golf simulator for personal use, you should carefully consider whether laser is worth the substantially higher cost, or you should opt for a lamp projector with more resolution and brightness.
- Contrast - in simple terms, the contrast is the difference between the brightest white and the darkest black that a projector can produce. This is really an irrelevant concept in the context of golf simulators as the amount of ambient lighting will override any contrast. However, if you are intending to use your simulator as a home cinema in a dark setting, then contrast maybe an important factor.
- Input Lag - this basically means how quickly the image can be projected on a screen. Again this is irrelevant for simulator golf as the lag between when you hit a shot and when an image can be produced by your simulator software will be way longer. However if you are looking to double up your golf sim for gaming purposes, then every millisecond counts.
In conclusion
Buying a projector for your golf simulator set up doesn't have to be that complicated. We hope that we've been able to simplify the thinking process for you by highlighting which factors are the most important and why. We really hope that it will help you to choose the right projector for your set up.
At Kaizen Golf, we also stock a range of popular golf simulator projectors, be sure to check them out here.
If you have any further questions on choosing the right projector for you or any feedback at all, please feel free to contact us, we'd love to hear from you!