Choosing a Projection Screen

The screen should be a white projection screen (1.1 gain max) (No silver screen) or a flat, non-glossy, white wall. It is best to use a screen with a light-blocking backer material to help from losing light through the back. It is also best to use a traditional vinyl material type screen. Cloth screen material tends to absorb light or allow too much to pass through. The screen should be a 16:9 aspect ratio. If a non 16:9 screen is used the image will just not fill the screen, but will still work. The system is designed to be used on an 8 ft to 12 ft widescreen. A flat wall with no texture painted flat white with no shine to the paint can also be used. It is also important that the screen surface is flat with no waves in the surface for an even image.


As an example, we use the Elite Screens Yard Master 2 in 110" for trade shows. (Note: these have a gain of 1.3 but work fine with our system.)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V8TGR8G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1


If you want to go with a bigger screen we recommend going with the Yard Master Plus Series which allows the screen to be mounted closer to the floor.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07894W8Q1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1


Choosing a Projector


(Click here to see our FAQ on the Standard Throw camera vs the Short Throw camera.)


Vankyo LED projectors do not work


Elite Screens now makes a projector and will try to sell it to you if you call them directly to buy a screen. It is LED and is not bright enough to work.


Ultra short-throw 4k Laser Projector Warning

Projectors such as the Optoma CinemaX P1 & P2 or the new VAVA 4K Ultra Short Throw. These types of projectors have a large Input Lag (delay from the image being sent to the projector by the PC to the image being displayed by the projector). This introduces too much delay to work correctly with our tracking and will not calibrate correctly or at all.


LED Projector Warning
Do Not buy the cheap non-name brand LED projectors listed on eBay and Amazon. The lie about how bright they are and are a fraction of the listed lumen brightness. The below article addresses this in more detail.


There are many projectors out that will work with our system. The name brands to look for are Viewsonic, Epson, BenQ, Optoma, Hitachi, and InFocus. You will want either an LCD or DLP projector.

Consider the screen/image size
The system is designed to be set up on at least a 8 ft to a 12 ft widescreen at a 16:9 Aspect ratio. The recommended projector brightness is 2000 to 3600 lumens. But if you have a projector over 3000 lumens projecting a smaller image of around 5 ft to 6 ft or less you may encounter the Screen Too Bright error when calibrating the camera. In this case, you would need to lower the projector's brightness until the calibration will complete. Or alternatively, you can move the projector and camera farther away from the screen increasing the image size.

Consider the Throw Ratio

The Throw Ratio is the distance the projector will need to be back from the screen to create a specific size image. Our Tracking Camera has a 1.6:1 field of view. That means you would multiply the width of the projected image by 1.6 to find how far back it would need to be to see the projected image. As an example, an 8 ft wide image would require the camera to be 12.8 ft back from the screen.


Projectors list their Throw Ratio in their specifications as a ratio such as 1.56:1 and usually have a zoom range where that can be adjusted so would be something like 1.55 - 1.73:1. As you can see our camera ratio of 1.6:1 is within this range so this projector would allow the projector and our camera to be located at the same place from the screen.


The minimum specs required for a projector are:

  • Minimum 2000 ANSI s to maximum 3600 lumens (depending on screen size, a larger screen needs a brighter projector)
  • capable of displaying a minimum resolution signal of 1280x720 (lower resolution projectors can be used but must be able to read and display at least a 1280x720 signal)
  • Proper input (either VGA or HDMI) to match what your PC connector is.
  • Warning, you can not connect your PC to your projector with a USB cable. It will not work with the Smokeless Range.
  • Warning, signal converters such as HDMI to VGA converters can cause problems. Some may work fine and others may not work correctly.

Projectors for use with our standard 1.6:1 throw camera

(Scroll to the bottom for Short-Throw projectors)


Here are a few projectors that meet our spec as an example. We suggest just googling these to get the most recent pricing and availability.


1280x800 Resolution

ViewSonic® PA503W

Optoma H184X

ViewSonic PX700HD or the newer version PX701HD

Optoma W335


1920x1080 Resolution

ViewSonic PX701HD

BenQ TH585

Optoma HD28HDR

Projectors for use with our optional .5:1 Short-Throw camera


Ultra short-throw 4k Laser Projector Warning

Projectors such as the Optoma CinemaX P1 & P2 or the new VAVA 4K Ultra Short Throw. These types of projectors have a large Input Lag (delay from the image being sent to the projector by the PC to the image being displayed by the projector). This introduces too much delay to work correctly with our tracking and will not calibrate correctly or at all.


Viewsonic PS600W

This Projector is 1280x800 resolution @3700 lumens and works well with the short-throw camera and matches the throw of the camera at .5:1.

Optoma W319ST

For larger screen sizes like 10ft to 12ft wide this is a brighter option that is 1280x800 resolution @4000 lumens and a throw ratio of .52:1 which will work with our camera's .5:1 throw ratio.


Optoma GT1080HDR

This is a 1920x1080 resolution @3800 lumens projector that has a .5:1 throw that matches the throw of the short throw camera.



Optoma EH412STx

For larger screen sizes like 10ft to 12ft wide this is a brighter option that is a 1920x1080 resolution @4000 lumens projector that has a .5:1 throw that matches the throw of the short throw camera.


Also, please see our Short Throw setup guide in the below link to familiarize yourself with the specific setup needs of the Short Throw camera.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hpnpddeewudn6vg/Short%20Throw%20Camera%20Setup%20Guide.pdf?dl=0