Short throw vs ling throw projector for this setup?

[perky416]

Hi guys,

Im after a bit of advice please as to which projector would give the better picture for a golf simulator.

Setup:
Outdoors, the screen is covered by a canopy stretching out 2.5m over the top and 2 sides. So the screen will be covered from direct sunlight, but still exposed to ambient light creeping in from the open front.
The screen is sized 3m wide by 2.25m high, so 4:3 aspect ratio.
The screen itself is an archery net, so not a perfect screen as in the watching movies sense.

Projector option 1:
4000 lumen, full hd, short throw projector, placed 2m from the screen (so under the canopy). Just slightly off centre to the screen, so minimal horizontal keystone adjustment required.

Projector option 2:
4800/5000 lumen, full hd projector, placed around 5-6m from the screen, so exposed to direct sunlight. Off centre to the screen a fair bit (to avoid the golfer in front of the projector) so around 25 to 30 degrees of horizontal keystone adjustment required.

Which projector spec will give the better picture out of the 2 above?
basically its a choice between a slightly dimmer short throw projector a lot closer to the screen, out of direct sunlight vs a slightly brighter long throw projector a fair distance from the screen, in direct sunlight. With keystone adjustment factored in for both.

Thanks

 

[Tigercubrider]

Most short throw projectors don't have a zoom lens, but it can be done electronically.

Your basic issue is the inverse square law.
The short throw projector will be closer to the screen
The long throw further.
If you take a light source and produce an image from 1M it would have say, 100% brightness
If you move that projector back to 2M, the image gets bigger, but the light is 25% brightness.

I'd go with the short throw.
I'd also have a white projection screen (fabric) as the net will not reflect enough light

 

[Lucid]

Whether a projector beams it's image through shade or sunlight won't change the light power. What's important is the contrast at the screen surface. That's governed by ambient light, the screen size and rhe reflectance of the surface, and the native contrast ratio of the projector at its light output.

Just knowing the throw distance, screen size and the headline spec for the manufacturer's claimed brightness isn't really enough to go on to make a recommendation. But if it helps at all, a projector will generally output more light at the wide angle end of its zoom range than at the telephoto end.

Take any claims for brightness with a pinch of salt. Although they use a standard measure called ANSI lumens, the 9 or 16 point average doesnt reveal if the brightness changes a lot from centre to edges. Nor does it say anything about the contrast. In fact, the settings can be maxed out that makes the picture look pretty awful, but they'll put out more light than with the projector set to correct contrast and colour balance. Once correctly adjusted, the difference in brightness between the two models may reduce significantly. Ideally you'd look at both to weigh up which gives the better image.

As long as it won't bit hit by golf balls or a swinging club then I would go with the short throw projector, but mostly because it needs less Keystone adjustment.