Nearly everyone at one time or another has had to endure seeing a blockbuster movie from the POV of a milk mustache under the main character’s nose. The front row is where the tardy are relegated, where those who have yet to master the chicanery of pre-orders and reserved seating must be exiled. There is no question that they are the worst seats in any house. The existence of a worst, then, must suggest its opposite: The ideal seat. The perfect focal point that maximizes your visual and aural experience. Does it exist?
For a standard movie theater with exit rows on the sides (as opposed to down the middle, as some older theaters have), the best spot is as close to dead center as you can get. “I’ve always felt the obvious best spot to sit in a movie theater is in the center of the room, center with the screen. This way your eyes are more centralized and not straining to catch things on the very left or right side of the image on screen,” says Joe Muto, head projectionist for Nitehawk Cinemas. You also don’t want to have too wide of a vertical viewing angle so you have to look too far up or down to see the whole screen. That’s a large part of what makes sitting in the front row so unpleasant for most people.
The center positioning is also good for sound. “You have the best placement for surround sound, and your ears catch the full effect of all the speakers in the house working together,” says Muto. Sitting too close to one side isn’t as much of a downside as it once was, at least from a sound perspective. Audio companies like THX now try to tune the speaker performance and arrangement to deliver more consistent sound to everyone in the room. Still, you have to trust your ears and listen for things like audible reflections, in which sound echoes off of non-speaker surfaces in the room and can make dialog sound muddy or hard to understand.
A lot of it depends on factors beyond just seat location, which can be frustrating if your theater isn’t all that engaged in improving or monitoring the customer experience. “Often, theaters will not regularly update their projector lamps, causing the brightness of the image to dim significantly over time,” says Muto. “That can absolutely affect the viewing experience. Keeping the projector lamps up to spec, especially in a very big auditorium, is crucial. Especially for a mainstream or Hollywood movie.” In a case like this, you’re not going to get the best experience no matter where you plunk your popcorn.
When you factor IMAX, however, the variables aren’t exactly the same. “We have a patented design for our theater geometry,” explains Brian Bonnick, chief technical officer for IMAX. “We start off with a screen that goes from wall to wall, floor to ceiling as opposed to having – in most theaters – a frame around it. The second step is that the seating deck is stadium style, and it’s much closer to the screen. So your field of view becomes much larger, from any seat in the theater.” Sitting in the front row as opposed to the back row in a traditional theater means your geometric relationship to the screen is wildly different. Bonnick describes the IMAX system as “stouter,” with less variation from seat to seat.
They also extend this level of detail to the sound as well. “The loudspeakers are then designed where they’re going to sit in the venue. This is done independently for every single theater in CAD,” says Bonnick. “So when the guys arrive on site, they get an X-Y-Z coordinate for each loudspeaker, for where it is to be hung. Once it’s mounted there, we have a target little bigger than a hockey puck and it is stuck somewhere else in the theater and we use a laser to aim each loudspeaker to its individual target. And those targets are all calculated so that each loudspeaker’s sound dispersion is hitting every seat in the theater evenly.”
Still, even when he’s in an IMAX theater himself, Bonnick finds himself adhering to the “2/3 of the way from the screen, in the middle” concept—even though he admits he does so “more out of habit than anything.”
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FAQs
How to pick the perfect movie theater seat, get best viewing experience. The second or third row from the back, along with seats in the middle, are recommended for optimal sound quality and viewing experience. Avoid front-row seats and corner seats for better angles and audio.
Which seat in cinema is best for sound? ›
He explained that “The set of microphones that are installed in the room so that the sound can be heard creates “an effect that means that the rows that are located two-thirds of the way from the end of the venue are the ones in which the film can be heard best. Not too high, not too low.
How do I choose the best seat in cinema? ›
Experts recommend the seats farthest from the screen, specifically the second or third row from the back and in the middle, for the ultimate cinematic experience.
Where is the best place to sit to watch a movie for the best audio perspective? ›
Sitting in the center of the theater, two-thirds of the way back, is also a good option for sound quality as it is where the sound technician is positioned [2].
Where is the sound best in a movie theater? ›
To get the best possible sound, you want to sit as close as possible to where this mic is positioned: About two-thirds of the way back, in the center of the row. “THX designs every seat to be a good seat, but most people would do well to sit near the primary microphone position,” Martz notes.
What are Dolby seats? ›
Dolby Cinema unlocks the emotional impact of every film, allowing you to see the subtle details and ultravivid colors of Dolby Vision© and hear the immersive sound of Dolby Atmos© while seated in cutting-edge, reservable, spacious recliners.
Which cinema seats are best for couples? ›
Couples sitting in the corner seats of a movie theater often engage in intimate moments, such as holding hands, cuddling, and stealing kisses. These seats provide a sense of privacy and seclusion, allowing couples to fully immerse themselves in the movie and each other's company.
What is the royal seat in a theatre? ›
Dress Circle
Also known as the Royal Circle in some theatres, this is the second tier of seating and, in some smaller venues, the highest. Unlike the Stalls, these seats are arranged in tiers, meaning you'll usually get a pretty unobstructed view of the whole show.
Where is the best seat in a cinema reddit? ›
My top three priorities in movie theater seating are:
- Nobody sitting behind me, so usually the back row.
- Easy to get up and exit the theater, so usually an aisle seat.
- As far away from anyone else as possible, not counting people who came with me.
Answer: A quick scan through theatre seating charts does indeed find that theatres tend not to have a Row I. The reason is, said Jimmy Godsey, the Public Theater's Director of Ticketing Services, via a Public Theater spokesperson, "Simply, [the letter] I looks like a [number] one to ushers and box office."
According to Frey, the audio sweet spot is 2/3 back and in the middle. That's where audio engineers sit to balance the sound, and where you'll get the full effect of the chopper buzzing by or the building exploding.
Is it better to sit on the left or right side of a movie theater? ›
Right seat-side preference in a cinema has been explained by suggesting that it allows for emotional information processing by the right hemisphere (Karev, 2000).
Is there a bad seat in IMAX? ›
As we've established, the front row of an IMAX isn't great due to the giant screen. You'll be craning your neck and looking left and right to get everything in – it's not comfortable. Some go to the other extreme and go for the back row.
Are movie theater rooms soundproof? ›
Cinemas do have "soundproofing" and double-walls between them The issue is volume and frequency, and yes, price. Soundproofing is not perfect. Sound reducing is a better term. When high volume and low frequency sounds come along they are going to pass through party walls to adjacent rooms.
How do you soundproof a movie theater? ›
Soundproofing movie theaters requires both STC components – high mass and significant decoupling. Cinemas should also consider decoupling the wall tracks or base-plates from the concrete subfloor with a small neoprene or isolation strip.
Where are the best seats in a live theater? ›
Often within the Orchestra and sometimes in the Front Mezzanine, you will see seats marked as "Premium Seat". These seats are designated by producers as the "best seats in the house" due to their proximity to the action and prime viewing angles, and are often priced higher than others in the section.
Which seats are best in IMAX? ›
Center Seating: For most IMAX theaters, seating in the center of the theater, both horizontally and vertically, is often considered ideal. This ensures that you have a balanced and immersive view of the large screen without distortion.
Which seat is best for kids in cinema? ›
Everywhere has very good head clearance for children EXCEPT the very back row. Avoid that one. As for best viewing experience, middle is always nicer but if movie is 3d, you generally get the best effect sitting a littlr further back from the middle.
Which is the best seat to watch 3D movies? ›
Originally Answered: What is the best position in a cinema to watch a 3D film? In a Stereoscopic ('3D') film, the closer you sit to the front, the less objects will reach out from the screen. That's because a given scene will always be a fixed fraction away from you.
What is the difference between classic and prime seats in PVR? ›
Classic and Prime are same seats only difference is classic is first three rows starting from the screen, prime is 4th row till second last from the screen. While recliners are sofa like seats situated at last row which can be extended to make bed for extra comfort.
