When looking for the best short throw projector for golf simulators like OptiShot or SkyTrack, it can be difficult to wade through all of the various options on the market.
Especially if you have never worked with a golf simulator projector before.
There are a few things to look out for when creating your dream home setup. We will discuss a few of those points and then dive right into the best short throw projectors you can use.
Best Short Throw Projector For Golf Simulator (2024)
- UNPARALLELED PICTURE QUALITY:: Native 1080p Full HD image quality with 2200 ANSI Lumens, 15, 000:1 contrast ratio, 6x RGBRGB color wheel delivers rich colors and crisp details that are calibrated for movies and gaming.
- VIDEO GAMES ON THE BIG SCREEN: superior short throw projection enables you to project 100 inch screen from just 3 Feet letting you fully immerse into your games. Project up to 300 inches
- LOW INPUT LAG: The specialized low input lag and unique game modes ensure gamers an ultra-smooth and comprehensive gaming experience
- HDMI interface for top notch video and audio
- The 20,000:1 contrast ratio gives depth to your visuals
- 3D Ready 3D type display for lively and sharp results
- EXECUTIVE QUALITY PROJECTOR – WXGA resolution (1280x800) offers 2x more resolution than SVGA for a better experience during your presentations, movies, and pictures.
- DESIGNED FOR ANY ENVIRONMENT – With it’s 3, 200 lumens and a high native contrast ratio, enjoy more accurate, vivid color, even in well-lit rooms.
- EXTENDED LAMP LIFE – Up to an impressive 10, 000 hour lamp life, your projector should last over 10 years, even if you give a 2 hour presentation every day.
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Things to Consider Before Buying a Projector for a Golf Simulator
LUMENS – Lumens are what determine how bright the display is. The brighter your room is, the more lumens you will need to counteract all of the additional light near the projector. For dim rooms, around 2000 lumens will be required. For a brighter room, gunning for 3000 or more will be your best bet.
THROW RATIO – The throw ratio explains the correlation between how far back the projector is versus how wide the projected image stretches across a surface. To avoid shadows on your screen, it is best to get a ratio that matches your screen size. The ultra-short throw projectors provide your best chance at clear image quality. To find the optimal throw ratio, you divide the distance between the projector and your screen by the width of your screen. For instance, a ten-foot screen that is five feet away will require a ratio of 0.5 to 1.
RESOLUTION and ASPECT RATIO – The aspect ratio determines the shape of the image by comparing the height and width of the projection. The resolution determines how many pixels can fit on a single screen. The higher the resolution, the crisper your picture quality will be. A 1080p resolution is HD quality and will be your best move if you want to create an excellent setup in your home.
Best Overall: BenQ HT2150ST
BenQ HT2150ST Specs – Projection System: DLP | Resolution: 1080p (1920 x 1080) | Brightness: 2,200 ANSI Lumens | Contrast Ratio: 15,000:1 | Display Color: 10-bit | Aspect Ratio: 16:9 | Zoom Ratio: 1.2:1 | Throw Ratio: 0.69 – 0.83 | Speaker: 10W x 2 | Light Source Life: 3500 / 5000 / 7000 hours | Other Features: Short-Throw, Full HD 3D
The BenQ short throw projector features a beautiful 1080p resolution that will look great in nearly any room. The 2200 lumens are bright enough for a vast majority of home theater setups. The 6x RGB color wheel delivers a great variety of colors that will really pop out on your screen. It is calibrated for movies and games specifically, but this makes it very capable of projecting golf simulators as well.
You can project across one hundred inches of screen space from a mere three feet away. You can also project upwards of 300 inches if you have a larger space to work with. The low input lag makes it one of the most responsive displays available today. This makes the BenQ HT2150ST great for realistic golf action and a variety of other media. The warranty lasts for three years so you are covered if anything goes wrong when you take it out of the box.
Two HDMI ports allow you to connect to two outputs at once. This is a nice feature if you have other people in the house using the projector or if you want to dabble with a movie or video game. The light source lasts for thousands of hours no matter which mode you are in before needing to be replaced. This makes the BenQ a great value that is worth considering.
Best Projector For Skytrak: Optoma EH200ST
Optoma EH200ST Specs – Projection System: DLP | Resolution: 1080p (1920 x 1080) | Brightness: 3,000 ANSI Lumens | Contrast Ratio: 20,000:1 | Display Color: 10-bit | Aspect Ratio: 16:9 | Zoom Ratio: N/A | Throw Ratio: 0.5 – 3.4 | Speaker: 10W Mono | Light Source Life: 6,500 hours | Other Features: Short-Throw, Full HD 3D
The Optoma EH200ST delivers an incredibly bright 3000 lumens from the moment you turn it on. If you are concerned that your room is too bright, this projector is strong enough to conquer the other light sources vying for dominance. You can project 100 inches of the diagonal screen from just 3.5 feet away. The 20,000:1 contrast ratio makes light and dark images stand out starkly from one another.
The MHL-enabled HDMI port comes with the ability to hook your phone up to the device as well. This gives extra flexibility to the projector that extends well beyond simulating golf. The fully digital connectivity makes input lag incredibly low. This ensures each swing is perfectly captured on screen.
The Optoma also delivers a 0.5:1 throw ratio which makes it great for a majority of home spaces. You can always measure out your room to make absolutely sure it will be the right fit. The 10W audio provides great sound quality that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. The VESA 3D sync port ensures you are getting a dynamic image every time. Overall, this is a great projector that will easily make your golf simulator shine.
Best Projector For Optishot: BenQ MW632ST
BenQ MW632ST Specs – Projection System: DLP | Resolution: 1280×800 | Brightness: 3,200 ANSI Lumens | Contrast Ratio: 13,000:1 | Display Color: 10-bit | Aspect Ratio: 16:10 (WXGA) | Zoom Ratio: 1.2:1 | Throw Ratio: 0.72:1 – 0.87:1 | Speaker: 10W Mono | Light Source Life: 4,000 hours | Other Features: Short-Throw, Closed Captioning, Full HD 3D, Blackboard Mode, Laser Pointer
For incredibly bright rooms, the 3200 lumens offered by the BenQ MW632ST projector will no doubt make the projection easy to see. The 13,000:1 contrast ratio makes it very easy to differentiate the light and dark parts of the screen. With a resolution of 1200×800, the picture quality will remain consistently high across all types of media.
The 10,000 hours of lamp life give this projector some extremely long legs. The bulb wouldn’t go out in the first ten years even if you had it on for two hours every day. This is in part due to the 0.9 lens, which creates a narrow beam of light that is also designed to not blind everyone in the room. Two HDMI ports allow you to connect and easily switch between two devices at once.
The extremely short throw allows you to place BenQ MW632ST projector near the screen and move freely without casting shadows on the screen. The 10W speakers make it easy to hear, even when you are far away from it. The result is a very convenient projector that respects the entire room of people using it. This BenQ is well worth picking up if you like what you’ve read so far.
Best Budget: ViewSonic PA503S SVGA
ViewSonic PA503S Specs – Projection System: DLP | Resolution: 800×600 | Brightness: 3,600 ANSI Lumens | Contrast Ratio: 22,000:1 | Display Color: 10-bit | Aspect Ratio: 4:3 (SVGA) | Zoom Ratio: 1.1:1 | Throw Ratio: 1.96:1 – 2.15:1 | Speaker: 2W Mono | Light Source Life: 4500 / 15,000 hours | Other Features: Closed captioning, Full HD 3D, Blackboard mode
Viewsonic’s short-throw projector provides some solid visual flair that makes it great for nearly all applications that will be thrown at it. Sporting 3600 lumens, even the brightest room won’t be able to impede the image. The screen can project up to 120 inches from just over 15 feet away and 27 decibels of sound will easily reverberate throughout the entire room or basement.
The lamp can last for around 15,000 hours, so you can easily set and forget this projector. The ViewSonic PA503S offers tons of ways to connect, including HDMI and VGA cables. If you are having trouble getting another projector to work with your old pc, try this model and see how easy it is to get things up and running. The color wheel has six segments that make any shade or hue pop vividly.
This projector is ideal for golf simulators because it reduces input lag so your shots will come together much more effectively and with its automatic keystone correction, the device eliminates the tilted or crooked images that plague other similar projectors. Overall, this is a great choice if you have a big room with many other light sources pouring in.
Best Picture Quality: Optoma GT1080Darbee
Optoma GT1080Darbee Specs – Projection System: DLP | Resolution: 1920×1080 | Brightness: 3,000 ANSI Lumens | Contrast Ratio: 30,000:1 | Display Color: 10-bit | Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (HD) | Zoom Ratio: N/A | Throw Ratio: 0.50:1 | Speaker: 10W Mono | Light Source Life: 5,000 / 10,000 hours | Other Features: Short-Throw, Full HD 3D, Blackboard mode
Optoma GT1080Darbee projector features an impressive 30,000:1 contrast ratio that is perfect for having light and shadows pop out against each other. The 3000 lumens displayed by this device make it incredibly easy to see in a brighter environment. The 0.49:1 throw ratio provides a solid distance for most rooms where you will be setting up your golf simulator projector.
The device offers 8,000 hours of lamp life on average, which is still more than a majority of users will ever need. There is an HDMI output that is compatible with 3D images as well. You can project up to 100 inches from just 4 feet away making it an extremely short throw projection.
The 16ms of input lag ensures you will never notice any choppiness or unnatural motion on your screen. The OptomaGT1080Darbee has also one 10W speaker, which provides exceptional audio quality and depth to everything you project. In the end, this is a great choice for those who like stunning pictures and audio quality on everything they display.
Golf Simulator Projector Buying Guide And FAQs
Buying a projector for an indoor golf simulator is not cheap or easy. We know how confusing is to read the projector specification sheet for people who have never used a projector before. In this short and simple guide, we will provide you with important things to look out for when creating your home setup.
What Is A Golf Simulator?
A golf simulator is a technical system designed to offer a simulated golf game to the golfers in their homes. It simulates the real game while also improving your skills, and allows you to play golf regardless of weather and time of day too.
Golf simulators have a wide range of products and their cost ranges from $299 to $100,000.
There are various golf simulators available, some focusing specifically on training, some more on entertainment, and some are a combination of both. Before buying a golf simulator, keep these two important things in your mind:
- Do you want to use it for training or entertainment?
- Do you have enough space for it?
Here are the top golf systems that will allow you to run a full simulation experience:
The Benefits Of Having A Golf Simulator In Your Home
As we already mentioned, a golf simulator with good quality is an expensive investment. The question is, what makes it so attractive to have this type of simulator in your home? Here are a few benefits of having these systems:
- Play golf regardless of the weather and time of day.
- You can play more often and improve your skills.
- A golf simulator round takes 40-60 minutes to complete.
- You can play very realistic golf courses Pros play on TV.
- You get detailed data and feedback about your play.
- You can record your swing.
- Just have fun.
What Will You Need To Build A Golf Simulator
Due to advanced technology and cost reductions, having a home golf simulator is now within reach for many golf enthusiasts.
If you decide to have such a system in your home, you can make the golfing experience more realistic and build yourself the indoor setup of your dreams.
Here are the materials you will need, but pay attention to the quality and durability of each material. You will get what you pay for.
- Golf hit mats
- Projector screens
- Projector
- Golf hitting net
- Simulator
- Computer
- Golf simulation software
How To Choose The Projector For Golf Simulator
Projectors for golf simulators are absolutely different from conventional projectors. What does it mean? Simply put, these projectors extend the images of the simulator onto a larger screen medium.
Here are the key features of a projector for a golf simulator:
LUMENS – Lumens are what determine how bright the display is. The brighter your room is, the more lumens you will need to counteract all of the additional light near the projector. For dim rooms, around 2000 lumens will be required. For a brighter room, gunning for 3000 or more will be your best bet.
THROW RATIO – The throw ratio explains the correlation between how far back the projector is versus how wide the projected image stretches across a surface. To avoid shadows on your screen, it is best to get a ratio that matches your screen size. The ultra-short throw projectors provide your best chance at clear image quality. To find the optimal throw ratio, you divide the distance between the projector and your screen by the width of your screen. For instance, a ten-foot screen that is five feet away will require a ratio of 0.5 to 1.
Do you want to know the difference between long throw, short throw, and ultra-short throw projector? Check out this article.
RESOLUTION and ASPECT RATIO – The aspect ratio determines the shape of the image by comparing the height and width of the projection. The resolution determines how many pixels can fit on a single screen. The higher the resolution, the crisper your picture quality will be. A 1080p resolution is HD quality and will be your best move if you want to create an excellent setup in your home.
Most common aspect ratios and resolutions:
4:3 (XGA & SXGA)
- 1024 x 768 resolution
- The image will take more of a square shape
- These projectors are cheaper
- These projectors are also more portable
16:10 (WXGA & WUXGA)
- 1280 x 800 resolution
- You get a more rectangular image
- Better picture quality
- Expensive than XGA & SXGA
16:9 (Standard HDTV, 1080p)
- 1920 x 1080p resolution
- You get a more rectangular image
- Better picture quality than previous options
- Expensive
Where To Mount Projector For Golf Simulator
The projector mount location mostly depends on the screen size and the projector itself. Every brand and model has an optimal mounting location.
How To Maintain Your Golf Simulators Projector
The projector can be very expensive and keeping it clean should extend its life. Here are a few tips on how to protect and maintain your golf simulator projector:
- Always keep it clean.
- Let it cool out.
- Don’t shut down it quickly.
- Try to use the energy saver function.
- Pay attention to the lamp life
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Main photo by Alex Litvin
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