HD Projector

[espresso]

If you're looking for a low budget 720p projector, why not save some money and consider the BenQ MS616ST? I don't have any personal experience with this projector but the specs are decent for a budget 4:3 ratio setup.

[bpep]

Thanks for your help Dax! My projector sits about 16' back close to the ceiling and I bring the image down. This is with the Panasonic ae4000u which I love, but its for my home theatre in the basement so trying to find something comparable for lower cost. Maybe the 1080p BenQ. My screen is 11'x 9' and I use 16:9 so some black on top and bottom but no big deal to me. Thanks for your help and suggestions I will continue to research which is part of the fun.

[SLYDER]

Hi All
Costco has a sale on the optoma 25 for 929if anyone is interested.

[Dax]

After looking at my lighting a little more, as it is at the back of my room well away from where the projector and the screen will be, I believe that I should be able to get away with the Benq 1080st.

[SLYDER]

Hi Dax
I looked at the projector calculations and for short throw the benq looks like the way to go. You can get a lot larger image. Thanks for your posts I would of went with the optoma and not get a full screen.

[Dax]

Thanks Slyder,

I nearly, very nearly pulled the trigger on the Optoma as well, but in the end was concerned that given that it was ahead of me I would be taking too many changes based on the inputs from CPA et al.

Look forward to seeing pictures of your set-up and will post some as well once I get started with construction next month. My next step now is to try and come up with a drawing that will allow me to fabricate my screen frame and enclosure using pipes. I have a good idea in my head of what I would like to do, just need to put it on paper.

[SLYDER]

Hi
since my is in the garage which I use for other things I hung my screen like a roman blind so i can pull it up when not in use. I also got some bungy cords to attach it to the side wall to taunt it a bit.Thanks again.

[SLYDER]

hi Dax
Are you ging to a store to order get the benq or ordering it on line? Never bought a projector before so not sure what the best way is.

[espresso]

Post some pictures of your garage. Depending on what type of garage doors you have you might have to avoid the tracks and center mounted opener. If you have a torsen spring setup, you can really save some ceiling space by having your ceiling tracks flush mounted and use a lift jack opener. For the screen material, you can have a sleeve sewn in on top and have eyelets installed on the sides. With the sleeve you can slide a steel conduit pipe and either hang it by wall using brackets or ceiling mount it. The conduit pipe I use is 10' wide. I'm not sure if they come in a longer piece or if you have to connect pipes. It was the only pipe that could support the weight of my screen. Lots of things to consider before the fun starts.

[Dax]

Thanks for the suggestions, I don't want to high jack this thread with screen set up, but the garage door will be non-functional. I asked my builder to install the door only and nothing else. So apart for about 3" for the door and the tracks that run vertically for the door, there is nothing else for me to worry about. I guess I have a blank canvas to work with.

[espresso]

I personally think you should ask your builder to install the full track flush to the ceiling even if you don't end up using the garage doors on a normal basis. It will take up almost no ceiling height and it's an additional emergency exit.

[Dax]

Slyder, sorry forgot to respond to your question. I am buying mine through Amazon. Will pick it up on my holiday next week. Amazon is great and their return policy cannot be beat (I don't work for them).

[DFDubb]

Thought I would try and contribute a little bit since I've learned so much from others here.

During all of the holiday madness, I picked up the Epson Powerlite Home Cinema 730hd for $499. I mounted it 17ft away from my screen and am getting a nice 8.5 ft high (hitting area has higher ceiling) by 12 ft wide image. It's obviously not a 1080, but the image is very nice for the price. My SIM room sits in the front room of a 2 story house. Above the front door is a huge window that allows a lot of light into the SIM room during the day and the projector is still able to put out a pretty decent image when the sun is shining. I'm not super versed in projectors (this is my first one as I've always just used a TV off to the side), but for the money, I'm extremely pleased. I know others here have the 705hd, and I believe this is just an updated version.

[Dax]

The Benq arrived today and am excited to give it a try tonight to see how it works in varying light conditions. Shipping was quick as well, ordered it on Saturday and arrived today.

[Jsgregg]

The Benq arrived today and am excited to give it a try tonight to see how it works in varying light conditions. Shipping was quick as well, ordered it on Saturday and arrived today.

I can't wait to hear about your experience...I am strongly considering the very same projector.

[Dax]

I just finished my testing to see if I would keep the projector or return it. I am actually down south at the moment enjoying some sunshine away from the horrible weather that I just left in Calgary and upon arrival found my projector had been delivered quicker than I expected. After unboxing (packaging was very good), I found the projector to be very light in weight and showed no signs of damage from shipping. Unfortunately, my ability to control light here is very difficult and so I really needed to wait until the evening to try and recreate what I would have at home but with a much lower quality medium to project an image off than what I woud have once my sim is up and running.

The projector (a BenQ 1080ST) came with a pc cord, as well as a carrying case, lens cap and remote control.

What I found:

The projector was easy to set up on the floor (opposite of where it will end up, but I can't see why the image would not be any different). and getting a fully focused image took only a minute or so to acheive.

1. The projector is not strong enough to overcome sunlight streaming into a room with a lot of windows. While I was able to still see an image on a 12 foot wide low quality screen material (my roll down blinds that let through a lot of light) I would say that you should use the projector in a room where you can control the amount of light given the size of image that we are trying to create.

2. In the evening I tried my tests again and this time was able to control the amount of light in the room. I tried about three different scenarios and the results were pretty good.

My first scenario had lights on both in front of the projector and behind and while the image was pretty good, I found that the lights in front of the projector did wash away my 12 foot wide image significantly. Fortunately for me, my set up will have all lighting behind the projector and I will be able to control light between the projector and the screen with the enclosure that I plan to build.

My next test had a lot of background lighting and even some lighting on the side of the projector and a 12 foot wide image was much better in this test, but if my set up at home had this amount of lighting, I think that I would have been disappointed.

My final test just had lighting behind the projector that would be sufficient to light up the hitting area enough that I would feel comfortable. In this test I found that the projected image at 12 feet wide was actually very good (especially in 1080p). I ran the E6 ii demo and was pretty happy with what I saw knowing that things would likely only get better with a better quality screen to project off, as these blinds actually allow a lot of light to project through them (I am sure anyone outside looking at my condo would have wondered what I was doing and why I had images of golf courses in my condo when we are surrounded by some great courses).

After this, I then ran a couple of tests off of a dvd player that upconverts to 1080i and was very impressed with the 8 foot image that I created.

In the end, I feel that this is a great projector for the price and provided that you are able to control the amount of light in your room, it should be bright enough to satisfy most and based on my tests in a much less than ideal environment, I will definately be keeping this projector for my sim set-up.

I am really starting to look forward to construction and getting the sim going. My next step is to contact Cory at Par2Pro and start asking some questions on the HQ screen material in order to ensure that I order the appropriate dimensions (I will likely also go for his putting turf as well for my none hitting area in order to give me a lot of room to practice putting).

I should be able to post some more updates on the projector once I am back in Calgary where I will run some tests with my blueray player (this will be used for golf sim only, but I am curious to see the image that it creates for movies in a room where there is very little light).

[Jsgregg]

This is a great running review! Would you mind sharing what your image size will be at home (length and width) and how far you will be mounting the projector from the screen?

[Dax]

I am still tossed between whether I will do a 16:9 image or a 4:3 image, but my plans are for a 4:3 image that will be 12 feet wide by 9 feet tall. Based off of the calcs on projector central, I should be able to mount the projector somewhere between 12 and 13 feet from the screen, which should work well for me as my current plans have me hitting at around 12 feet from the screen and so I should be able to have the projector mounted slightly behind where I will hit from (I will try to get the projector as close to the screen as possible in order to maximize image brightness.

[throttle]

Just picked up a Epson PL 730HD (1280x800 native) for my sim build. I chose it cause because it does 16:10 native which for me looked the best size wise vs 16:9 or 4:3. I compared it against the Epson PL 2030 (1920x1080 native) and did not notice any picture quality difference other then the aspect ratio changing the size (bought both and returned the 2030). Maybe its just the graphics engine of the Optishot not being up to 1080p standards yet?

Question on ceiling mounts - I need one that offers an adjustable extension pole between 10-20" or so. Any good mounts that anyone is aware of that I should look into?

[Jsgregg]

I am still tossed between whether I will do a 16:9 image or a 4:3 image, but my plans are for a 4:3 image that will be 12 feet wide by 9 feet tall. Based off of the calcs on projector central, I should be able to mount the projector somewhere between 12 and 13 feet from the screen, which should work well for me as my current plans have me hitting at around 12 feet from the screen and so I should be able to have the projector mounted slightly behind where I will hit from (I will try to get the projector as close to the screen as possible in order to maximize image brightness.

Hey Dax....so what did you decide on and how does it look? How is the new PJ working out for you?

[Dax]

I went with the Benq 1080ST and I am pretty happy with it. I have not tested it in the garage though, but note that while it does throw off a lot of light I will need to be careful and control the light in my sim space. I will be ordering my screen in the next couple of weeks (busy setting up the new place still), and have already ordered the parts for building my frame.

I have watched a couple of movies with the projector though in my theatre room and feel that the picture looks very good for the price that I paid. Have not noticed any rainbow effect and find the picture to be very clear and detailed.

[misterclean]

Has anyone tried using a Lux meter on a smart phone to determine the Lux in a room intended of a golf simulator? Just wondering if anyone has found a correlation between Lux and Lumens on projectors ie: 300 Lux with a 2500 Lumen projector is not bright enough.

[syhlif32]

1 Lux = 1 lumen/ m2.
So yes there is a 'strong' correlation.

A smartphone light sensitivity meter is not very accurate not sure you can read too much into the figures you get.

[slad]

Haven't seen too may people talk about the Optima HD25 LV. 3200 lumen.

I just picked this one up on Amazon for my sim for about 1k. Nice projector in 1080 with 3D, but I sort of wish it was Short Throw. Mine is hanging 27 feet back to give me a 16' x 9' image. Works well though.

[woodburywild]

Here is my scenario and thought - please give me your opinion.

Ceiling is 8'2. My screen is a 4:3 aspect and measures 8 high and 10'6 wide. I am either going to mount it to the ceiling or thinking of putting it on the floor (box built around it) in front of the matt. I am looking at the Benq MW870UST which is an ultra short throw projector with a throw of .37 (the shortest non-mirror projector I can find). Thoughts?

http://www.golfsimulatorguys.com/products/projector-box

[AJA]

Optoma X306ST. 3000 lumens XGA.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-X306ST.htm

[torreypines]

Getting 16 ft x 9 ft screen, will use 1920:1080 HD projector for GC2. The following allow me to have 18.5 feet throw to project on entire screen.
I have read favorable reviews. Has anyone used any of the projectors:
Acer H6510BD (3000 ANSI, 10,000:1)
ViewSonice PJD7820HD (3000 ANSI, 15,000:1)
Ben MH680 (3000 ANSI, 10,000:1)

Also some projectors are designated office versus home theater. In reviewing Projector Central many have similar specs (i.e lumens, contrast, throw, etc). I assume either are adequate for golf Sim. Thanks.

[AJA]

I would look at options which are closer to the screen in terms of "throw" distance.

With the set-up that you are proposing you will get shadows of yourself on the screen image. It will ruin your projected image.

You can approximate the setup with graph paper and drawing the room to scale using the side view. At one end put your screen with the proposed vertical height. 10 feet away put a little "stick man" (which would be the golfer), generally at least 6 feet tall. Then place your proposed projector at it's throw distance, allowing for lens shift and offset, etc. Draw lines fom the projector to the top and bottom of the screen. Hopefully your stick man golfer won't be in the way of the projection beam.

While it may seem counter-intuitive to place the projector closer to the screen, the closer to the screen, the less likelihood that you will get a shadow. If the projector is slightly forward of the golfer then it should be out of harm's way from being struck by the club, at the same time avoiding shadows.

[torreypines]

Thanks for your reply. Taking me back to my grade school days doing some trig. Fortunately I have 12 foot ceiling and confirmed an 18 foot throw will not leave a shadow by doing the above exercise.

I would like to go with a 10 ft x 16 ft screen but concurrently would like to have the 1920:1080 resolution versus the 1280:800 resolution (16:10 aspect ratio). Probably the best scenario is 10 x 16ft screen with 1920 x 1200 WUXGA projector but projector above my price point.
After reading this forum I am leaning towards the 9ft x 16 ft. screen so I have a higher resolution image. I believe this will maximize the experience with the FSX software. Or can you make a compelling argument to go for the 10 x 16 ft screen with a 1280: 800 projector?

If the shadow is not an issue, then is there a benefit of a short throw versus a longer throw projector?

I have listed several 1920 x 1080 projectors with the following specs: brightness, contrast, and fL, and throw distance. What do you think is the "best" projector for a my proposed screen dimensions 16x9 ft? (source- Projector Central calculator)

BenQ W1080ST: 2000L, 10:000:1, 7fL, 10-13 ft
BenQ W1500: 2200L, 10,000:1, 6 fL, 17-21ft
BenQ 108ST: 2200L, 10,000:1, 14 fL, 12ft
BenQ 1075: 2200L, 10,000:1, 7 fL, 18.5 ft
BenQ MH680: 3000L, 10:000:1, 19fL, 18.5 ft
Optoma GT1080: 2800L, 25:000:1, 10 fL, 8 ft
Optoma EH200S: 3000L, 20:000:1, 21 fL, 8ft
Acer H651: 3000L, 10,000:1, 9fL, 18.5 ft
ViewSonic PJD7820HD: 3000L, 15,000:1, 19fL, 18.5 ft

[DFDubb]

IMO build the biggest cage / screen that you can fit even if you don't fill it up with the image. Mine is 18x9.5 and I have about 8 inches on both sides not being used by the image, but I'm glad it's there. I think your getting hung up a bit on the perfect screen size to projector mating combo. Projectors wear out, tech changes, you might find 1 you like better, etc...Your screen is likely a 1 and done deal, do it right first.