Small room projector solution suggestions

[murphyk]

Hi guys, I've been speaking to a variety of simulator manufacturers for a while, and think I've decided to plump for a GC2 solution. The room it's going to go into is 4.2m (13.8ft) long by 3.9m (12.8ft) wide with ceiling height of 2.6m. I'm pretty confident that I can swing a driver unimpeded by the ceiling, but foresight are telling me that the room is too short for a projector, and I'll have to hit into fabric and have a side wall mounted plasma TV to give me an idea of where I'm going.

Reading through the forum here, it appears that you guys can get anything to work! So do you think with a GC2 unit and the room the size that I have, I can get a proper projector solution working? What would be the things I'd need to think about to get it up and running?

I'd be happy running memory foam, double layered screen or whatever it takes if i can get it to work...

I'm a pretty crappy golfer at the minute, and there's windows along the left wall facing the screen so i'll need some protection for the side walls as well which may impact the potential solution?

The house is being totally refurbished currently, and so can build the solution into the walls/ceiling/floor which can hopefully squeeze a bit of extra room. Can also potentially put the computer in a different room and run cabling to the sim room, so no room required for that either...

Thanks for any help you can give to get this to work!

Kevin

[CPA]

Kevin, short throw projector. ** optoma gt750e. ST' s are only 720 pixels but better than nought.

[wbealsd]

Kevin, I'm using the Optima gt750e and I'm quite happy with it. Low cost, short throw and decent quality picture for what you plan to use it for.

[murphyk]

Great news! I've done a bit of research now on ST projectors, so feel comfortable selecting one to do the trick. But my question is more a mickey-mouse one. Presumably, people ceiling mount their projectors? If so, with my ceiling height, am I going to clobber it with my driver? The room is 2.6m high, and I can swing comfortably in 2.5m. But the 10cm grace doesn't sound like a lot of space for a projector....

Can i position it to the side? Or does the projector need to be in the middle of the image it's projecting?

There's not a lot of detail on here that I can find about the actual projector positioning.

Thanks,

Kevin

[HRS]

Some have keystoning to be off axis but you lose some picture quality. For golf no big deal but if you plan for movies you'll be losing some pixels. Remember that your driver doesn't go straight back but on an angle. You might be safe depending on the postioning.

[CPA]

Kevin , blow up a balloon and put it directly above the ball. Bet you cannot hit it with a swing.

[wbealsd]

As HRS pointed out, we don't really swing the club directly overhead, that's where my projector is mounted & I've never come close to it.

[CPA]

As HRS pointed out, we don't really swing the club directly overhead, that's where my projector is mounted & I've never come close to it.

And if you do it is probably time to give up the game....

[murphyk]

Ha! I was just scared that with my room width, I'd have to stand off centre to get a proper swing, and maybe that would cause bother with a centrally mounted projector. But I taped the distances that I have to work with on the floor last night, and there's loads of room. Should be able to even fit in left and right hand tees!

So that's the projector and mount sorted. Sounds like i need to go shopping...

[CPA]

Amazon always has best price on 750e. Look at hd projector thread. Psace loves his st hd even with the low lumens.

[murphyk]

I don't think the benq 1070 will work for me due to my room being too short, but the W1080 might when it comes out. The builders will be in for a couple of months first, and so PJ can be specced in a couple of months. At this stage, it's about working out what's possible. And thanks to randomly finding you guys, i have hope that I can get it working. So massive thanks for that.

Will contact Cory to get the screen sorted (assuming he can post to the UK). And then just need to find a UK net supplier for the side walls and some suitable black fabric for the roof...

[CPA]

Just buy a roll of black 3 pass blackout material and Velcro to make curtains for side and top. Side wall does not need net.

[tarmactrr]

I have a viewsonic ultra short throw projector. it will throw out a 200'' image from about 7 feet.