The Easiest Way to Create a 1:1 Golf Simulator Screen That Fits Nearly Anywhere

How the latest golf simulator projectors enable this new aspect ratio to make small golf sim setups a snap

Figure 1 - Garages, Basements, and Multipurpose rooms are the most popular locations for home golf simulators

For most first time golf simulator buyers, figuring out where to put the screen and enclosure is one of the biggest challenges, especially if they don’t have a lot of extra room.  The latest enclosures and screens with a 1:1 aspect ratio are ideal for use in garages, basements, and for multipurpose rooms in your home.   This format enables you to have a tall enclosure that can handle your wedge shots – but doesn’t use a lot of wall space.   But finding a projector that can properly work with a 1:1 screen and enclosure can be a challenge, so we’ll help you sort out the details. If you’d rather get a personalized recommendation right away, feel free to reach out to us here.

Now it is possible to get a quality impact screen and enclosure that can be as little as eight feet wide and tall.  For example, the Carl’s Place DIY Golf Simulator Enclosure Kit and Shop Indoor Golf SIG8 feature a 125-inch diagonal screen that is big enough to see the details of the trees and grass when lining up your shot. While this aspect ratio is relatively new, it is becoming more popular as an easy way to get started with indoor golf and more companies are now making them available.

It depends on the projector.  The vast majority of projectors today are setup for widescreen viewing, using 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratios. One common problem is that if you try to reformat a widescreen projector improperly, the image will look like it was squished into the screen and not very realistic.  Even using a widescreen projector in a legacy 4:3 mode on many models can be a challenge since your image may not fill the upper or lower parts of the screen.  To fix this problem usually requires tinkering with the resolution settings on both your projector and computer – something that can be difficult for AV novices. 

The answer is to get a projector that is designed to work in a golf simulator.  The screen fill functions in the latest BenQ 4LED and short throw laser projectors are set up to enable anyone to setup their projector and computer to properly fill a 1:1 screen without a lot of hassle.  Once you have your enclosure setup – just go into the projector menu and choose “1:1” as the Screen Fill aspect ratio and click OK.  The projector will restart itself – and in a few seconds your golf sim image will be properly formatted for your screen.  You don’t have to mess with your computer – or figure out how many pixels you need.

The Screen Fill feature is only available on specific BenQ Golf simulator projectors since other aspect ratio’s like 4:3 and 16:9 are already built into the other models.  The latest BenQ AH30ST features a new 4LED light engine and can be placed about 10 feet from the screen – safely away from your hitting area – while delivering a stunning realistic image from ceiling to floor.  

Here are the two most popular 1:1 short throw projector models with key information using a 8’ x 8’ enclosure so you can find the one that is right for you.

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.