Finding the Sweet Spot for a Sim Projector Setup
I stumbled into this whole setup mess after rearranging my garage so I could hit a few balls during the winter. At first I didn’t even think about where the projector should go — I just hung the screen, dropped a mat in the middle, and figured I’d improvise the rest.
5 Views
I’ve been through this a couple of times, and honestly the biggest thing I learned is that getting the right distance is less about guessing and more about knowing your projector’s throw ratio and the actual width of your screen. The formula is pretty straightforward — multiply the throw ratio by the screen width and you get the range where the projector should live. What tripped me up at first was forgetting to leave myself swing space behind the hitting area. I set my unit too close once, and every time I used the driver I felt like I might clip the mount. After a few close calls I moved the whole thing back a foot and a half and the difference was huge. The image got cleaner, the alignment was easier, and the swing zone suddenly felt natural instead of cramped. I’ve also learned to double-check keystone and height before tightening anything — crooked edges look way worse on a big impact screen than you’d expect. When I need a quick reference, I just pull up the explanation tied to projector distance because that’s what I use when I’m sorting out measurements for friends’ setups. It won’t make the decision for you, but it helps you avoid the common mistakes so you don’t have to remount the thing ten times (done that… never again).