GOLF SIMULATOR SCREENS
The screen that you choose will really set the tone of your golf simulator.
There are five primary factors that you will need to weigh up when making your choice. These are durability, picture clarity, noise levels, permanency of the set-up, and of course - cost.
Durability
Durability is obvious enough - you will be hitting golf balls at this screen with all the power you can muster, so unless your really struggling with your driver you are going to be regularly hitting the screen with a golf ball travelling at speed, so you need a screen that will survive the punishment long enough to get your moneys worth out of it.
A good quality screen won't scuff or mark as easily either, meaning lower maintenance, longer life and consistent picture experience.
The screen's 'bounce back' ability would fall under this heading also. When you do hit the ball, you don't want to have to manually go over and take creases out of your screen. It needs to be taut, and yet it needs to have some give and elasticity to recover itself, as well as absorb some power from the shot so you don't have to dive for cover every time you hit a ball.
Sub standard materials will either 'tent' on impact, or not have enough 'give' to absorb the shot and therefore will fall apart after a couple of strikes, as well as send the ball hurtling back towards you.
Picture Clarity
Odds are that you will be using a projector to make your simulator immersive, and so your screen needs to be smooth enough to double as a home cinema style surface if you want it to look good. If you buy some sort of heavy duty white construction material to work as your screen, it is likely to be bumpy or porous and therefore throw the image off and make it look uneven.
All the good simulators these days are HD, so you'll ruin that if you don't buy a HD quality screen (and a HD ready projector of course).
Noise Levels
Different screens produce different levels of noise when struck, and as you probably have guessed the quieter screens have more complex production method and/or specialised materials, and are therefore more expensive.
What will influence your choice here is where your simulator will be set up. If you are setting up in a shed or out building and you don't have neighbours on top of you, standard screens will do you fine.
If you are setting up in an attached garage or a room in your house, we definitely recommend going for the quieter screens.
Permanency
Is your simulator going into a place where it will stay set up for all eternity, or will you need to use that space for other things and therefore have to dismantle and rebuild it either regularly or irregularly?
If your space is usually used for something else, and you will want to set up your sim, use it, and put it away again then the stealth retractable are the best bet by a long shot.
If the space will mainly be a golf simulator room, but will have to be taken down from time to time, then you could get away with a more standard bungee mounted screen, and obviously if it's a permanent set up, avoid the retractable, and go with an enclosure or bungee mounted product.
Cost
The simulator screens we sell are ones that we can stand over in terms of the criteria above - we know them, we know they last the distance and we know they look great. They are quality screens.
Below you will find a breakdown of the screens we sell so you can narrow your choice, and follow the link to more specific information from there.
The SQ Impact Screen has the best combination of low-noise, limited bounce-back, durability and great picture.
This is a bungee mounted screen with eyelets every 50mm, so it is perfect for permanent set ups, or for ones that will only need to be taken down or put infrequently.
The Stealth Retractable Impact Screen uses the patented SQ Impact Screen (above) coupled with a motorised roller to turn a space such as a garage or shed into a part-time golf simulator studio.
With the touch of a button the screen drops down from the ceiling with hardly a noise. You then latch a bungee in each corner to ground/wall eyelets and you're ready to go.
Find out more here.
This Impact Screen has great picture clarity, and it is very durable, although not as quite as durable as the SQ screen, and obviously not as quiet.
It comes with a backing material aids bounce back, but this means that it's really best suited to a permanent set up.
All in all, it's a good quality screen, at a good price.
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Need some advice?
If you want to get some advice on screens you can give us a call on 01 582 6935, contact us via social media, email hello@simulatedsports.ie, or use the form on the Get in Touch page.
Whatever way you choose, we'll be glad to hear from you.