Guides · Room design and everyday use
How Do You Light a Golf Simulator Room Without Washing Out the Projector?
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Aim light at the hitting area and the people using the room, while keeping it off the impact screen and out of the projector beam. Carl's Place recommends overhead track lighting above the hitting area and lights at the sides of the bay ([lighting guide](https://www.carlofet.com/blog/golf-simulator-lighting)).
Check the image with the projector running before deciding which lights to keep on during play. Windows and light behind the screen count as part of the same problem.
This is one retailer's general guidance, not a lighting standard or a brightness specification. Your launch monitor may have its own lighting conditions, so follow its manual when those differ.
Light for the golfer and the room
Light that lands on the screen competes with the projector. Carl's Place describes the result in its ambient light guide: the image washes out, mainly in the dark areas, so shadows lose depth and colors lose punch. Keeping other light off the screen preserves the darker parts of the picture.
Away from the screen, light serves three purposes:
- The golfer. You need to see the ball, the tee, the edge of the mat and your own feet.
- The rest of the room. People pick up balls, change clubs and walk to the door between shots. They need enough light to see the floor.
- The launch monitor, possibly. A camera-based unit may be affected by how the hitting area is lit; the manual for your unit is the authority.
Where to mount lights
Seen from above, the screen spans the front of the bay, and the projector beam runs from its mount to that screen. The mat and tee sit in the middle of the bay, the golfer stands beside the ball, and the rest of the room sits behind the hitting area. The lights go where they reach the mat and the golfer without crossing into the front zone. Entries with a Carl's Place link follow its guide; the rest are our own suggestions.
| Zone | What goes there | Keep out |
|---|---|---|
| Above the hitting area | Overhead track lighting, away from the projected image (Carl's Place) | Heads aimed forward at the screen |
| Sides of the bay | Side lights on the sides of the simulator area (Carl's Place) | Fixtures far enough forward to spill onto the screen |
| Between projector and screen | No fixtures | Lights in the projector beam (Carl's Place) |
| Behind the hitting area | General room lighting on its own switch | Bright fixtures facing the screen |
| Behind the screen | Watch for lights or windows there (Carl's Place) | Light that reaches the image |
Track lighting lets you aim each head once the room is built. Aim the heads down at the mat or slightly back toward the golfer, never forward toward the screen. Lights on both sides of the bay fill in the hard shadow that a single side fixture would throw across the mat.
Aim the lights with the projector running. Put up a dark scene, such as a night course or a dark menu, and turn the lights on one at a time. Any fixture that leaves a bright patch on the screen or turns the dark areas gray needs to be re-aimed, moved back or switched off while you play. Test from the tee, and also from where people sit or stand to watch.
Separate switches make this easier. If the hitting lights and the room lights are on different switches, you can keep the bay lit while the back of the room goes dim. New circuits, switches or hardwired fixtures are a job for a licensed electrician.
An enclosure lighting kit is one option for mounting fixtures above or beside the bay, but check the lights already in the room first. If you already have recessed or track lights in the right places, or can aim the lights you have away from the screen, the layout above costs nothing to try first.
Controlling windows and daylight
Carl's Place suggests blackout shades for windows. For a new build, the same page notes that windows can be moved or removed from the sim room.
Some openings have to stay usable, such as a door to the house or a window that must open. For those, Carl's Place offered Golf Room Curtains with blackout material when its pages were read on October 22, 2026 (Carl's Place). For light behind the screen, the retailer offered a Back Cover Kit (Carl's Place).
Check the room at the times you actually play before buying window coverings. As a hypothetical example, a room used only after dark may need little on its windows, while daytime play could reveal light leaking around a door or through a high window onto the screen. Fix the openings that affect the image first; these examples are not test results.
Camera units and lighting
Lighting needs differ by launch monitor type and by model. Use the requirements for your exact model rather than deciding lighting from the sensor type alone. Radar vs camera: the 6 ft that decides your launch monitor explains their different placement needs.
If your manual lists lighting conditions, light sources to avoid or a preferred direction of light, follow it over the general layout here.
If shots misread only when certain lights are on or off, change one light at a time and hit a few shots after each change. That can help identify a lighting-related problem before you move the launch monitor or replace the lights.