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What’s the best seat in a movie theater?
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Young people sitting at the cinema, watching a movie and eating pop corn (Shutterstock/Stock-Asso)
E
very moviegoer knows that sitting in the front row is an excruciating experience. If you go to the cinema regularly, you probably have your favorite spot already, but which is really the perfect seat?
This might seem obvious, but the best seat is located dead in the center.
The first reason is glaring: Sitting in the center gives you the best viewing angle.
New York-based Nitehawk Cinemas head projectionist Joe Muto explains. "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,” Muto told Popular Science.
Read also: River cinema among Bali’s newest tourist attractions
The second reason is sound. Despite improvement in modern sound systems that provide more balanced, all-around-you sound, sitting in the center still gives you the best experience. "Your ears catch the full effect of all the speakers in the house working together,” said Muto.
However, the same arguments do not apply to IMAX theaters. IMAX chief technical officer Brian Bonnick said that an IMAX theater is "stouter", meaning that the seats have less variation than those of traditional theaters, be it for the visual impression or sound. (dev/kes)
