Four Keys Create an Immersive Golf Simulator in Your Home

Room lighting is an easy to overlook part of creating realistic golf simulators. Too much light may cause the projector to look washed out – and not enough light may make it too hard for the launch monitor to see the ball flight. An enclosure with longer walls and ceilings will help reduce stray light from the impact screen. For your launch monitor you will want to add light only where it is needed. Rooms without windows are best, but well-fitted blackout blinds will suffice to block out the majority of the light.

Here are some tips- and you can read more about how to do this in this article.

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  Use narrow beam spotlights to light up the hitting area. You can use PAR 38 bulbs, as well as pin lights for adjacent areas. 

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  Track lighting enables you to aim the light where you want it – and keep it from bouncing to the screen. Having the lighting system above the hitting area is helpful – so consider replacing an overhead light with a track light.

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  Avoid putting a strong beam directly on the launch monitor itself. It can confuse the sensor, so focus the light where the monitor is reading the ball for maximum accuracy. etc.

If done correctly, this enables you to easily see everything you need– while keeping as much light as possible off the impact screen – and creating the immersive experience you are looking for.

Impact screens and enclosures come in all shapes and sizes, so what should you look for when you are wanting a more immersive golf simulator? There are two key areas to look at when trying to create an immersive environment.

• Impact Screen Fabric: Impact screens are built to withstand repeatedly being hit by golf balls without being damaged – and safely dropping the ball after it hits the screen. In 2024, there are now new tightly woven impact screens fabrics that look almost as good as a traditional home theater screen.  Having a smoother surface is essential for enabling the projector to show off all the detail, especially when used with a higher resolution 4K projector. As all impact screens are slightly translucent, some light passes through it, and the ideal is that none of that pass-thru light gets reflected back to the screen. Black behind it will give you the best possible contrast and detail.

• Enclosure: The enclosure around the impact screen has two purposes.  First, it helps stop bad shots from going through your wall and ceiling, and the second purpose is to block out ambient light and other visual distractions from the screen. Ideally when you are hitting – you only want to see the projected image on the impact screen and nothing else. For most enclosures, you can extend the ceiling and the sides of the screen, as well as add extra layers in other areas such as the ceiling or rear areas to keep light off the screen. It costs a little more – but makes a big difference in how immersive your simulator feels when you are playing.

• Resolution: Resolution is the most important factor as it determines how much detail the projector can show on the screen. The bigger your impact screen, the more important resolution becomes in being able to see the details on every tree and the subtle contours of a sand trap. Typically, smaller systems will use 1080p resolution, which can put two million pixels on your impact screen, while a 4K projector delivers over 8 million pixels – and is essential if you are looking at an impact screen bigger than 12 feet wide. The latest simulation software such as GSPro, E6 CONNECT or TGC 2019, support 4K output – so if you are planning on using these programs – it may be worth stepping up your projector resolution to take advantage of this. 

• Color: Color is the second most important part of an immersive golf simulator projector. In the past, most projectors used for golf simulation were repurposed classroom projectors with marginal color accuracy. But for an immersive golf sim projector, you need a color accurate projector – just like in a home theater -to ensure that your fairways look like they have real Bermuda, Zoysia, or Fescue grass and not an arcade game. The best golf simulation projectors use the Rec. 709 specification found on televisions and home theater projectors to perfectly reproduce the complex colors found on course such as the subtle blues in the ocean or water hazard. The newer laser and LED powered projectors have the best color performance for an immersive simulator – and the BenQ golf sim models have a specific golf mode – designed for maximum realism tested on the latest software platforms.

• Throw Ratio & Brightness: The right throw ratio is important for being able to safely mount your projector where it will completely fill your impact screen. Usually these are short throw models that can be mounted just behind the hitting area to avoid having the golfer create a shadow on the screen. The brightness of the projector is the final element. It needs to be bright enough to look good on the screen with good color performance. Here the new LED models such as the BenQ LH600ST can fill up a small to midsize screen with stunning color and clarity, and laser models can fill up a 16 foot or larger screen with up to 5000 lumens.