What Are the Best Projectors for the Garmin Approach R10 in a Home Golf Simulator?

The $599 Garmin Approach® R10 launch monitor is the first product of its type from a company selling golf technology for decades.  This unit can be used outdoors and synced to your phone or iPad for you to use anywhere without a PC.  But if you are a golfer who may want to use this as your launch monitor for an indoor setup, we’ll help you find the best projector to match up with the Garmin Approach R10 – and discuss how much they cost.  Here are the most popular setups and questions for a Garmin Approach R10.

• Smaller impact screens around 10-12 feet wide
  
• Medium-size home golf simulators with larger wide aspect impact screens
• Larger “SimTheater” multipurpose home golf simulator areas that have 14 feet or wider impact screens
• Typical cost of a home golf simulator projector

The impact screen is the key component in a home golf simulator since it determines the size of your image – and how far back you need to be from the screen to hit.   For smaller rooms and garages, the most efficient use of space is a square aspect ratio impact screen and enclosure. 

This enables you to have a screen that is high enough to ensure mishits don’t go through the ceiling – but will fit in a smaller space such as a spare bedroom or single bay in a garage.  The good news is that these are typically matched with less expensive projectors since they don’t need to be as bright as on the larger impact screens below.  

However, you will want a “short throw” model to ensure that the projector can be mounted, so it doesn’t create any shadows.  One of the least expensive golf simulator projectors is the $600 BenQ MX825STH, which is set up for a 4:3 square screen aspect ratio and has a special lamp that will output 3500 lumens using a SmartEco lamp technology that will enable the lamp to last up to 15,000 hours. 

The other model is the $800 LW500ST – which uses LED  lighting instead of a lamp – giving it spectacular color when running the E6 software and will last 30,000 hours.

If you choose to start using the E6 software available for the Garmin Approach R10 in your home simulator, then you may want to look at a larger screen with a wide aspect ratio to enjoy the stunning graphics and amazing realism available when playing a course. 

The most common setup is a 13-16 foot wide screen that is 8-10 feet tall.  These screens require a brighter projector since they are about double the size of most home theater screens.   One of the least expensive models is the $1699 BenQ LU710 4000 lumen laser projector that you can mount in an AV cart to the side and rear of the hitting area (near your Garmin), which will fill up a 13-foot wide screen from 15 feet away.

You then use the horizontal keystone to adjust the image location to fill your impact screen.    But one of the most popular approaches is to use a ceiling-mounted short-throw laser projector like the BenQ LU935ST.   You can mount this model from as close as 13 feet away – and up high enough to keep it away from the hitting area.

According to a national survey of golf simulator buyers, over 85% would like to use their simulator setup for home entertainment such as watching TV or movies.  Once you have a PC connected to your Garmin Approach R10, a few clicks of your mouse can enable you to either watch the Masters live in 4K resolution or your favorite family movie on a truly giant screen.  

Plus, playing golf at 4K resolution on the E6 platform is simply stunning.   These setups use a widescreen 16:9 impact screen so the screen is narrower than the other two choices.   For a smaller screen such as 13’ wide and 7.5’ tall, you can use the $1599 BenQ TK700STi which is a 3000-lumen short throw 4K projector in a room with less light. 

If you have a bigger screen or want a brighter room, you would want to use the popular $4899 LK936ST short throw 4K laser projector.  

If you are looking for a golf projector that fits your budget, there are many good choices – and some that may not be as good.  Besides brightness, one of the most important elements in a golf simulator projector is color accuracy.  

Why?  Traditional high brightness projectors designed to show PowerPoint slides in classrooms are not designed to render the complex greens of realistic grass and subtle khaki of bunker sand like projectors made for home theaters.    Televisions, home theater projectors, and golf simulator projectors all use an industry-standard color accuracy specification called Rec. 709 to ensure that the Green Bay Packer helmet looks right on your TV, and the Bent grass greens at Torrey Pines don’t look like the Poa Annua used on Pebble Beach greens.  

Nearly every BenQ golf simulator projector is specified with a Rec. 709 percentage, so you can be sure your new simulator doesn’t look like you are playing Wii Golf.   Here is a comparison of some of the models mentioned in this article.