How to Set Up a BenQ Golf Simulator Projector: Mounting, Auto Screen Fit and 4:3 Screens

A BenQ golf simulator projector setup starts with one test: does the picture fill the screen with room to spare at the spot you plan to mount, not just at the distance a calculator predicted. Height, ceiling strength, aspect ratio and swing clearance all follow from that spot. You find that spot by running the projector at the planned distance, with the screen darkened, before you drill a single hole in the ceiling. On the AH700ST and AK700ST, once the picture spills past all four edges of the screen, Auto Screen Fit takes over and sizes, squares and focuses the image itself. In short: the AH700ST is the 1080p version, the AK700ST the 4K version, and the LK936ST is the one to pick when the mount cannot sit centered and you need optical lens shift.

This guide walks through the process BenQ built the Ace series around: measuring throw distance correctly, finding the mounting spot before you commit to it, running Auto Screen Fit, filling a 4:3 or 1:1 impact screen, and picking the right ceiling mount. Top Shelf Golf is an authorized BenQ dealer and carries every projector, mount and screen mentioned below; our Find My Projector tool matches all of them to your room size.

Key Takeaways for BenQ Golf Simulator Projector Setup

• Throw distance is measured from the lens, not the mounting bracket, the ceiling plate or the back of the chassis.
• The AH700ST and AK700ST have no lens shift, so height comes from centering and squaring the lens plus the projector's fixed offset, not from an optical shift.
• Auto Screen Fit only works after the picture already overflows every edge of the screen: it corrects position, it doesn't create room that isn't there.
• Test the projector at the planned distance before you drill into the ceiling, with two people and the screen darkened.
• A 7.7 x 10 ft 4:3 impact screen puts the AH700ST roughly 9 ft 2 in to 11 ft 1 in from the lens.
• Screen Fill changes the resolution the PC sees over EDID, so you set the aspect ratio once on the projector and once again in your simulator software.
• The ceiling itself has to carry 4 times the combined weight of the projector and mount, anchored into framing, not drywall alone.

What does the throw distance number actually measure?

Throw distance is measured from the center of the projector's lens to the screen surface, never from the back of the chassis, the ceiling mount plate, or the enclosure wall behind it. On a zoom lens like the one in the AH700ST and AK700ST it's a range, not a fixed number, because the throw ratio moves as you turn the zoom ring.

Both projectors carry a 0.69 to 0.83 throw ratio with a 1.2x motorized zoom. On a 7.7 ft tall by 10 ft wide 4:3 impact screen, that works out to roughly 9 ft 2 in at the wide end of the zoom to 11 ft 1 in at the tele end, measured lens to screen. Ten feet back sits comfortably inside that range.

Our Find My Projector tool gives you a starting number across every projector we carry, and BenQ's own 3D Golf Sim Planner does the same for its lineup. Treat both as a starting point, not a final answer: BenQ's own installation video puts the gap between a calculator's number and the real, in-room distance at around 5 percent, mostly from screen surface and floor variation. That's exactly why you test the throw with the projector running before committing to a mounting spot.

How high should the projector be mounted?

Height comes from the lens center, not lens shift: neither the AH700ST nor the AK700ST has any vertical or horizontal lens shift, so once you know the offset and the image size, the math is fixed.

BenQ specs a 102.5% offset at full image height on both projectors. At the image size the AH700ST needs to fill a 7.7 ft tall screen, that offset puts the top edge of the projected picture about 2.3 in below the center of the lens. Aim for the lens center landing 2 to 3 in above the top edge of your screen, and the picture covers it with a small margin instead of falling short.

Two other things matter as much as the vertical number. Square the projector to the screen: the lens should point straight at the screen with no tilt left-right or up-down, because BenQ's keystone correction is digital and softens the image the more you lean on it. And center the projector on the width of the screen; off-center mounting shows up as an uneven margin on one side that keystone can mask but never fully fix.

If you're working with the BenQ LK936ST instead, the math changes. It has real optical lens shift (vertical -60% to +60%, horizontal -23% to +23%) and a 0% offset, so there's room to move the image up, down, left or right after mounting without touching zoom or focus.

How do you find the mounting spot before you drill?

Find the spot by testing the actual projector at the actual distance before any hole goes in the ceiling. Two people make this a ten-minute job; one person on a ladder in a dark room makes it a hazard.

1. Finish the screen and enclosure before you test anything: the picture has to land on the real screen, not a temporary target.
2. Attach the projector to the ceiling mount bracket, connect it to the PC, and power it on.
3. In the projector's menu, set Projector Position (Front Ceiling for a ceiling mount) and Screen Fill for your screen's aspect ratio.
4. Kill the light falling on the screen, but keep enough task light in the room to see the ladder and the floor.
5. Get the projector up to mounting height near the planned distance: set it on a sturdy platform at that height (a stepladder with a top shelf, a shelf on a rolling cart, or a tall box) rather than holding it, and have the second person watch the screen and call out the edges while you nudge it. Start with the lens a few inches above the top edge of the screen and 1.5 to 2.5 ft behind the hitting area (BenQ's recommended range). If nobody can help, run the test with the projector on the floor at the planned distance instead; the throw distance test works the same way.
6. Move it forward, back, left, right, up or down until the picture spills past every edge of the screen, with all four corners clearly outside the screen's border.
7. Once the picture overflows on all sides, mark the ceiling directly above the center of the lens with a laser pointed straight up (a laser level or a laser distance meter) or a plumb bob held on the line straight up from the lens.
8. Mount the bracket at that mark.
9. Before you drill, confirm the ceiling can carry 4 times the combined weight of the projector and mount, anchored into framing rather than drywall alone. Plan on two people for the install.

BenQ's ceiling mount guide: test the throw on the floor, then mark the ceiling straight up from the center of the lens.

How does Auto Screen Fit work, and when does it fail?

Auto Screen Fit uses a built-in camera to read the screen's edges and automatically set zoom, focus and aspect ratio to match it. Press it only after the picture already overflows the screen on all four sides: it corrects position, it doesn't create room that isn't there.

A few conditions have to be true for it to work. The border around the screen or enclosure needs at least 2.4 in (6 cm) of black or high-contrast material once the projector is more than 10 ft (3 m) away, and all 12 small circle markers inside the projected image have to land fully inside the screen. Ambient light has to be off. It works on both white and gray impact screen material, and on 16:9, 16:10, 4:3 and 1:1 aspect ratios. There is no maximum distance for the fit itself. BenQ's two distance rules are about the border and the angle: beyond 10 ft (3 m) the screen border has to be at least 2.4 in thick, and inside 7.2 ft (2.2 m) the projection angle has to stay within 10 degrees on 16:9 and 16:10 screens or 20 degrees on 4:3 and 1:1 screens.

When it fails, the fix is usually one of two things. If the markers land outside or on the screen border, the picture is too big for the screen: move the projector closer, or use the zoom to shrink the picture, until all 12 markers sit inside the screen with the picture still overflowing the edges. If it reads the wrong aspect ratio, aim the projector straight at the screen instead of at an angle, and run Corner Fit.

Run Corner Fit next to trim any remaining edge, then Quick Focus from the remote so you don't have to climb back up the ladder.

On the AH700ST and AK700ST, Auto Screen Fit sizes, squares and focuses the picture once it already spills past all four screen edges.

How do you fill a 4:3 or 1:1 impact screen?

Set Screen Fill to 4:3 or 1:1 in the Display menu, and the AH700ST and AK700ST report a matching resolution to your PC over EDID, so Windows picks up the new shape on its own; your simulator software has its own resolution setting that you match by hand.

Screen Fill offers four settings: 16:9 (1920x1080), 16:10 (1728x1080), 4:3 (1440x1080) and 1:1 (1080x1080). Selecting anything other than 16:9 also locks Aspect Ratio to Auto, so you're not fighting two settings at once. A 4:3 picture is 1440/1920, or 75 percent, of the projector's native 16:9 width: fill 7.7 ft of screen height and the image is about 10.3 ft wide, more than enough to cover a 10 ft wide 4:3 screen with a small amount to spare on each side.

If your screen doesn't match any of the four built-in Screen Fill ratios, a custom resolution covers it. Divide your screen's width by its height, multiply by the projector's native panel height, and use that as your resolution: on a 1080p projector, a 90 in tall by 150 in wide screen works out to 1800x1080; on the 4K AK700ST, a 12 ft wide by 8 ft tall (3:2) screen works out to 3240x2160. In NVIDIA Control Panel, go to Display, Change resolution, Customize, check "Enable resolutions not exposed by the display," then Create Custom Resolution and Test. Select the new resolution in Windows Display settings, and set it again inside your simulator software's own graphics or resolution setting (the two are separate, and both need to match).

Filling a 4:3 impact screen: back the projector up until the image covers the full screen height, then match the resolution in the graphics control panel and the simulator software.

Which ceiling mount fits, and how do you set it up?

The BenQ ceiling mount fits the AH700ST on three of its M4 mounting holes, and its 55 lb (25 kg) load rating is more than 7 times the AH700ST's 7.3 lb (3.3 kg) weight.

The mount weighs 3.9 lb (1.76 kg) and carries a 55 lb (25 kg) load rating, with 360 degree rotation and plus or minus 25 degrees of tilt. It fits any projector with mounting holes inside a 15 in (380 mm) circle using M3, M4, M5 or M6 screws, and ships with four arm brackets so it works across BenQ's projector lineup. Drop length is 5 in (127.7 mm) in the short configuration, or 15.9 to 22.7 in (402.7 to 577.7 mm) with the extension pipes installed, adjustable in 1 in (25 mm) steps: that's how you fine-tune the exact height once you've found your mounting spot.

To set the angle, loosen the knob on the hinge, tilt the projector to square it to the screen, then push the mount back against the hinge and tighten the knob. Route the power cord through the mount's pipe for a clean look. BenQ specs this as a two-person install, and remember the ceiling itself needs to support 4 times the combined weight of the mount and projector.

The BenQ bracket only fits projectors whose mounting holes sit inside a 15 in circle. For anything outside that, or for a sloped ceiling, we also carry the Carl's Place Universal Projector Mount, a Peerless-AV Precision Gear unit rated to 50 lb with a Spider adaptor plate that extends to 17.63 in. Its two geared knobs hold tilt and roll while you work on the projector, and it ships with a flat ceiling plate for a level ceiling or an angled plate for a vaulted, cathedral or pitched-rafter ceiling.

Which BenQ projector should you set up this way?

This whole process (throw distance testing, offset-based height, Auto Screen Fit) applies to the AH700ST and AK700ST, both in our golf simulator projector collection. The LK936ST uses real optical lens shift instead and skips Auto Screen Fit entirely.

Feature	AH700ST	AK700ST	LK936ST
Resolution	1080p (1920x1080)	4K UHD (3840x2160)	4K UHD (3840x2160)
Lumens	4000 ANSI	4000 ANSI	5100 ANSI
Throw ratio	0.69-0.83:1	0.69-0.83:1	0.81-0.89:1
Zoom	1.2x	1.2x	1.1x
Lens shift	None	None	Vertical -60% to +60%, horizontal -23% to +23%
Projection offset	102.5%	102.5%	0%
Auto Screen Fit	Yes	Yes	No
TSG price	$2,299	$2,899	$4,899

The AH700ST and AK700ST share the same throw ratio, projection offset and Auto Screen Fit workflow, so the choice between the two comes down to 1080p versus 4K. The LK936ST trades that automatic setup for optical lens shift, which matters when the mount cannot sit centered and squared to the screen, and adds 5100 lumens for rooms with more ambient light.

Bottom Line

The spec sheet gives you an estimated position; the picture on the screen confirms it. Connect the projector before you mount it, watch for the image to overflow every edge of the screen, and mark the ceiling from there. On the AH700ST and AK700ST, Auto Screen Fit handles the sizing, squaring and focus the moment that condition is met, and the BenQ mount's drop-length range covers the final height adjustment. If you want us to check your numbers before you drill, send us your room measurements (room width, depth and ceiling height, the screen's width and height, and where you plan to stand) and we will reply with a mounting range.

Related Guides

• Golf Simulator Projector Setup Guide: Distance, Mounting and Image Size
• Golf Simulator Projector Troubleshooting: Fix Common Setup Issues
• Short Throw vs Ultra-Short Throw: Projector Placement Guide
• Projector + Screen Pairing Guide: Match Your Setup
• BenQ vs Optoma: Which Projector Fits Your Golf Simulator?
• Best Golf Simulator Projectors 2026: All 25 Models Compared