What Are the Three Best Projectors for Eye-popping Realism with a GCQuad Golf Simulator System?

In 2021, Phil Mickelson became the oldest golfer ever to win a major – just a few months after using a GCQuad launch monitors to rack up some amazing stats virtually playing Cypress Point when fine-tuning his swing. The new Foresight QuadMAX is now one of the most expensive launch monitors you can purchase, tracking your club angles as well as ball spin – which makes it perfect for a high-end golf simulator system. With all this data available – what is the right projector to match with these technological wonders so you can have the best simulator experience in your home? Here is what you want to look for in selecting a premium projector for your simulation room:

1. A bright projector with 4000 or more lumens

2. High resolution so you can see the details on your courses – and watch golf 

3. Color accuracy for a realistic rendering of the grass, clouds, and water hazards

4. Short Throw lens and digital correction tools

A photometric system like the GCQuad requires a lot of light for the launch monitor to see and track the ball. But ambient light is the enemy of a projected image, so you will need a bright projector to light up your impact screen. Most setups with a larger screen require at least 4000 lumen laser projectors, and a 5000-lumen model enables you to see more detail and have enough power to look great on a 12 foot or wider impact screen. It also enables the simulator to double as a giant television when you want to watch a golf tournament. 

Foresight’s FSX’s premium courses enable you to play the best courses in the world in ultra-realistic 4K UHD resolution. This technology enables you to see the details of the wall of Hells Bunker as well as the spray created from the crashing waves at Pebble Beach #7 for the ultimate in a realistic simulator. Running this amazing software on a generic classroom or conference room projector is nearly the equivalent of putting pickup truck tires on a new Porsche 911 Carrera T.

The BenQ 4K AK700ST/LK936ST is one of the only golf simulator projectors that can render every one of the 8.3 million pixels from your simulator on your impact screen – showing every detail you paid for. With its new Unity engine, the FSX Play platform renders the blowing leaves at St. Andrews Old Course, as well as the grainy sand in the multitude of bunkers at Oakmont perfectly on the BenQ LK936ST. Remember, the larger your impact screen – the more important resolution is to enable the image to look realistic.  The LK936ST is a popular projector for commercial golf simulation installations, especially those who focus on lessons like LevelUp Golf in Little Elm, TX who uses the enhanced realism to duplicate the stresses found in playing match golf on championship courses. 

Good players notice the details in every hole.  Great golf simulators render every detail on the course with true and accurate colors. A typical conference room projector can’t render the difference between greens with creeping bluegrass or one with poa anna grass.  Why? Many of these projectors are designed for brightness instead of color accuracy. The result is an image that may be bright enough to fill your impact screen – but without compelling realism. The best projectors for a Foresight QuadMAX or GCQuad use a 10-bit color processing system that have Rec. 709 color accuracy, and a special golf color mode built into the projector created by engineers who work with course designers to get the details right. All BenQ golf simulator projectors in this class have the same DLP color technology used in commercial digital cinema.

To have a setup like this one – you will want a projector with a short-throw lens.   This enables you to mount the projector in a spot out of danger – but also in a way where the player doesn’t cast a shadow on the screen.   In the past, a good projector required an expensive optional lens, but the latest golf simulation projectors now have integrated short throw lenses that have a great picture and are less expensive. 

Both DIY’ers and professional installers appreciate the optical and digital correction tools such as lens shift, keystone, and other features such as digital shrink.  Lens shift enables you to move the image up and down or sideways.  In addition, the new BenQ AK700ST/ AH700ST has built-in cameras and motorized lenses that use AutoEverything technology to automatically set up the projector to your impact screen in just seconds with a touch of the button on the remote.  You can see how this works here.

To get the right projector for your GCQuad, here are several good short throw laser projector models at a variety of price points and mounting positions that will help you have the most realistic experience when trying to best Phil’s stats at Cypress Point.

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.