Do I Need a Projector for a Golf Simulator?

By Tom Hayward• August 10, 2026

7 min read

Do I Need a Projector for a Golf Simulator?

No — you do not need a projector for a golf simulator. It is one of the most persistent assumptions I come across, and it stops a lot of people building a setup they could easily afford. The projector-and-impact-screen combination is the classic picture everyone has in their head, and it is genuinely the most immersive way to play, but it is an option, not a requirement. Launch monitors do not care where the picture goes: a TV to the side of the hitting area, an iPad on a stand, or no display at all with the ball flying into a net all work perfectly well. In this guide I will run through the real alternatives, what each one costs, and the honest test for when a projector and screen earn their money.

What a Projector Actually Adds (and What It Does Not)

Let us be clear about what the projector does in a simulator: it displays the picture, nothing more. Every shot is measured by the launch monitor, so your data, your distances and your dispersion patterns are identical whether the ball flight is drawn on a 4m-wide impact screen or a 43-inch TV from the local supermarket. What the projector adds is immersion — hitting into the image of the fairway rather than glancing sideways at it — and what it demands in return is money (projector plus impact screen plus enclosure), space (throw distance and screen depth), and a room dark enough for the image to hold up.

So the question is never really "do I need a projector?" It is "is immersion worth £800–£1,500 and half a metre of room depth to me right now?" For some people the answer is emphatically yes. For a lot of first setups, it is not — yet.

The Three Alternatives That Actually Work

1. A TV to the Side of the Hitting Area

This is the setup I recommend most often for first simulators. Mount or stand a TV a metre or two to the side of the mat, angled towards you, connected to whatever runs your software. You hit into a golf net, glance at the screen for ball flight and numbers, and carry on. A 43–55 inch TV is ideal, and a huge number of households have a spare one already; if not, £250–£350 buys a perfectly good new one.

A typical version: Mevo Gen 2, pop-up net in a single garage, and a 50-inch TV on a wall bracket to the left of the mat. If the TV comes out of the spare bedroom, the display costs about £40 for the bracket, and it will happily run a full winter league season on E6. The compromise is simply that you are looking sideways rather than through the ball — you adapt to it within a session, but it never quite matches hitting into the picture.

2. An iPad or Tablet on a Stand

Smaller again, but genuinely usable. Most popular launch monitors — the FlightScope Mevo Gen 2 being the obvious example — run their apps natively on iOS, so an iPad on a tripod or shelf beside the mat gives you ball flight, video replay and full data with zero extra display hardware. For practice sessions this is honestly all many golfers use even when they own a projector setup, because it is instant. The downside is obvious: course play on a 11-inch screen is functional rather than thrilling.

3. Data Only: Net Plus Numbers

The purist option. Ball into the net, launch monitor calling out carry distance and club data through its app or even voice output. No display worth mentioning. This suits golfers who treat the setup as a practice tool rather than a games room — working on gapping, strike and shot shape through the winter. I found during my own testing that for pure range-style practice I paid more attention to my numbers with no course graphics to distract me. If that is your intent, spend the projector money on a better mat or launch monitor instead, and read my cage vs net guide for the hitting-into bit.

Display Options Compared

Setup	Typical extra cost	Immersion	Space needed	Best for
Projector + impact screen + enclosure	£800–£1,500+	Excellent — you hit into the picture	Most: screen depth plus throw distance	Dedicated sim rooms, course play, sharing with family
TV to the side + net	£0–£350	Good — full graphics, viewed sideways	Minimal extra	First setups, garages, dual-use rooms
iPad on a stand + net	£0 if owned	Modest	None	Practice-first golfers, portable setups
Data only + net	£0	None — numbers only	None	Winter practice, gapping work, small spaces

When a Projector and Screen Earn Their Cost

The pattern is consistent. A projector and impact screen are worth the money when three things line up:

The room is dedicated, or close to it. If the space is a permanent sim room — garage conversion, garden room, spare room — the screen and enclosure can stay up, and you get the payoff every session. If you are packing everything away after each use, the projector is the component you will resent.
You play courses, not just range sessions. Course play on a big screen is a different experience — it is the difference between practising golf and playing golf indoors. If your household will play together, this multiplies: children and partners engage with a 4m fairway in a way they never will with a side TV.
You can control the light. Projected images wash out in bright rooms. A garden room with blinds or a garage is perfect; a bright conservatory will disappoint unless you spend heavily on brightness.

If two of those three are true for you, buy the projector and screen and do not look back. Moving from a side TV to a SimBox enclosure with a projector tends to change how often you play — the setup pulls you in rather than merely being available. That is what the money buys.

If You Do Buy a Projector: Budget Guidance

You do not need a £2,000 projector. For a typical UK home setup my working rules are:

Around £400–£700 buys a very capable 1080p short-throw projector from the likes of BenQ or Optoma — BenQ in particular publish useful golf-simulator guidance on their site and make several models aimed squarely at this use.
Short throw matters more than resolution. A standard-throw projector needs 3m+ to fill a screen and ends up either behind your head (shadows) or in the flight path (expensive). Short-throw models fill the screen from much closer, mounted safely overhead; the BenQ AH500ST fills a 2.3m-high screen from about 2.04m.
Aim for 3,000+ ANSI lumens if the room has any ambient light; you can drop to around 2,500 in a genuinely dark space.
Check the aspect ratio against your screen. Most impact screens suit a 16:10 or 4:3-ish image better than native 16:9 — worth checking before you buy rather than after.

The full detail — mounting positions, throw-ratio maths, specific model guidance — is in my projector guide, and the screen side is covered in the impact screens and enclosures guide. If you go this route, budget for the screen properly: hitting real golf balls into anything other than a purpose-made impact screen ends badly for both the ball and the surface.

The Sensible Upgrade Path

Here is the route I suggest to most first-time buyers: start with the launch monitor, mat and net, using a TV or iPad you already own. Play for a few months. If you find yourself using it constantly and wishing you were hitting into the picture, add the enclosure, screen and projector then — nothing you bought in phase one is wasted, because the net moves to the garden and the TV goes back to being a TV. What you should not do is stretch the budget so thin that the projector is funded by cutting the launch monitor quality, because a beautiful picture drawn from poor data is a worse simulator than good data on a small screen. The full costings for both routes are in the UK cost breakdown.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I hit into a TV instead of a projector screen?

No — never place a TV in the flight path. A TV in a simulator is always positioned to the side or well behind protective netting, out of any possible ball line. Only a purpose-made impact screen is designed to take direct strikes. Even a heavily off-line shank carries enough energy to destroy a TV panel instantly.

Is a TV to the side really good enough for course play?

Yes, functionally — E6, GSPro and the rest render identically on a TV, and thousands of UK setups run this way. The trade-off is purely experiential: you address the ball facing a net, not the fairway. Most people adapt quickly; some find it permanently unsatisfying. If you can, try hitting a few shots on both styles of setup before deciding.

What is the cheapest way to get the big-screen experience?

A budget short-throw projector around £400–£500 paired with an entry impact screen and enclosure. The SimBox enclosure range is the value route here — seven sizes, and far cheaper than custom-built enclosures. All in, the big-screen upgrade can be done for under £1,000 on top of a net-based setup if you shop carefully.

Does the launch monitor work differently without a projector?

Not at all. The launch monitor measures the club and ball; the display merely shows the result. Accuracy, spin, carry numbers and club data are identical whether you are looking at an impact screen, a TV, a tablet or nothing at all.