What size impact screen do I need?

Enter your room width and ceiling height, say whether the screen hangs in a SimSpace bay or your own frame, and the calculator gives the screen size to order, the picture shape to set on the projector, and the screens we sell in that size. It uses the same clearances our sim experts use on every room design: 8cm each side of the frame, 10cm above it, 30cm behind the screen, and a 5 to 7.5cm tension gap between a framed screen and its frame.

Why the room sets the screen, not the other way round

Most people start with a screen size they have seen and try to fit the room around it. It works better the other way. The frame needs clearance to the walls and ceiling so it can be assembled and tensioned, the screen needs a gap to the frame so the bungees can pull it taut, and the bottom edge wants to sit near the floor so low shots land on fabric, not wall. Take those off the room and what is left is your screen.

Square, 4:3 or widescreen

A golf screen is usually squarer than a television. A 1:1 screen gives the tallest picture for a given width, which suits narrow rooms and high lofted shots. A 4:3 screen is the common choice in a 3 to 3.6m wide room. Widescreen 16:10 and 16:9 shapes only make sense when the room is wide and the ceiling is ordinary. The calculator picks the shape with the most screen area for your wall and shows the other two as alternatives. Whatever you choose, set the same shape in the projector's Screen Fill menu and in your simulator software, so the picture fills the fabric without spilling onto the frame. Our screen size and aspect ratio page goes deeper.

SimSpace bays are a size decision, not a screen decision

A SimSpace bay takes SimSpace's own screen cut for that bay, so choosing the bay chooses the screen: 2.4 × 2.3m in a SIM 1, 2.8 × 2.3m in a SIM 2, 3.4 × 2.3m in a SIM 3, 3.8 × 2.3m in a SIM 4, and 2.8 × 2.8m or 3.8 × 2.8m in the 3m-high SIM 5 and SIM 6. The calculator recommends the largest bay whose outer frame fits your wall with the clearances above, and lists any smaller bays that also fit.

The projector follows the screen height

The last line in the result is where the BenQ AH500ST, the projector in our packages, sits to fill the screen's height: its 0.499 throw ratio on a 16:9 picture puts the lens about 0.89 times the screen height from the screen, so 2.04m for a 2.3m-high screen. The projector distance calculator covers the other projectors and the mounts.

When the answer says tight

Under 2.7m of ceiling or under 3.0m of width, the calculator will still give you a size, but the question becomes whether you can swing a driver, not whether a screen fits. We have built rooms like that; they need a conversation and usually a screen-only or padded-wall build rather than a bay. Message us and we will look at the room with you.