Measure Ideal Screen Size and Projection Distance for Your Golf Simulator

A golf simulator provides an easy escape from soggy mornings and snow, allowing you to get your golf game on even when going outside isn’t feasible or all that pleasant. Simulators help you improve your game in terms of ability, consistency, and skill. For the most realistic and immersive experience, the projector is often one of the most overlooked yet essential parts of a golf simulator setup. So in this article we will show you how to measure the ideal screen size and distance for your golf sim projector, and thus assist you in choosing the right projector for your golf sim setup. If you’d prefer to get personalized setup advice directly, feel free to reach out to us here.

The position of your projector and the size of the projected image depend on your room configuration, which is why throw distance plays such an important role.

Simply put, throw distance refers to how far the projector must be placed from the screen to produce a specific image size.

Remember, throw distance and throw ratio are not the same. In most real-world setups, you’ll already know your available room depth and desired screen size, which together determine the throw ratio you should be looking for. The formulas below help you work backward to identify the right throw ratio for your setup:

• When using the full image width of the projector.
  • For example, a projector with a 16:9 native aspect ratio projecting a 16:9 image. Please refer to the formula below. 
    "Throw Ratio  = Throw Distance  ÷ Image Width"

• When not using the full image width of the projector.
  • For a projector with a 16:9 native aspect ratio projecting a 4:3 or 1:1 image, please refer to the formula below.
    “Throw Ratio = (Throw Distance × 0.5625) ÷ Image Height”
  • For a projector with a 16:10 native aspect ratio projecting a 4:3 or 1:1 image, please refer to the formula below.
    “Throw Ratio = (Throw Distance × 0.6277) ÷ Image Height”

For golf simulator setups, projectors with throw ratios ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 are commonly used, depending on room size, screen width, and hitting distance.

In standard home simulator setups, a throw ratio between 0.69 and 0.89 is often considered a practical balance, as it allows the image to fully fill the screen while keeping the projector safely behind the tee and minimizing shadows. For smaller or compact rooms, shorter throw ratios around 0.5 can also be an effective solution, enabling proper screen coverage while maintaining safe clearance in tighter environments.

To put this into perspective, let’s look at a common real-world example. A projector with a 16:9 native aspect ratio and a throw ratio of 0.8 projects a 14 ft × 7.9 ft image. The projector would need to be mounted about 11.2 ft from the screen:

0.8 (throw ratio) x 14 ft (image width) = 11.2 ft

This placement typically allows the projector to sit 2–3 ft behind the hitting area, helping to reduce shadows while keeping the projector safely out of the swing path.

You can use the BenQ Gof Sim Planner, a tool to help you measure the ideal screen size and throw distance, and for finding the right projector for your golf simulator.

Once you understand throw distance and throw ratio, the next step is seeing how they apply in a real room.

In a golf simulator setup, projector placement is determined by a combination of room depth, screen width, and hitting position. Different throw ratios result in noticeably different mounting positions, even when projecting the same screen size.

The illustration below shows how different throw ratios change the projector’s distance from the screen and its position relative to the hitting area.

BenQ offers different throw ratio models:

• 0.81-0.89 T/R: LK936ST
• 0.69-0.83 T/R: AK700ST/AH700ST/AH30ST
• 0.5 T/R: LK830ST/LH860ST/AH500ST

BenQ has trained staff to help you find the perfect golf simulator projector – within your room size and budget. To help you make the best decision, you can reach out to one of our experts to set up anything from a chat to a complete online demo, to help you find the right projector for your needs.