Best Cinema Seat According to THX Engineer

As easy as staying at home and browsing your favorite streaming service while sitting on the couch in jeans, going to the movies can actually feel like an experience. This and the fact that the ticket prices are not suitable at all . (Related: RIP MoviePass. )

So if you’re going to get past the difficulty of putting on your outer pants and getting out of the house, you can make the most of your experience by starting with a good theater seat. But where exactly is it? Based on the way most cinemas are set up, it will be two thirds of the way back in the center of the row.

Steve Martz , director of global technology for THX, explained to Vulture that technicians are testing the sound and video quality of a movie theater under construction by taking microphone measurements at multiple locations in the seats. While the goal is to ensure that every spot in your home is as comfortable as possible, the closer you can get to where they were tested, the better your seats will be. This usually means that you need to be in the center of the row, about two-thirds of the way from the screen.

This set of microphones includes a “master microphone” that is used to set playback levels, speaker sync, and other parameters that require a single location for measurement and calibration. For the best sound, you need to sit as close to where this microphone is located: about two-thirds of the way back, in the center of the row. “THX designs each seat to be good, but most people are better off sitting next to the main microphone area,” notes Martz. “And then expand to other areas when the theater is full.”

Of course, many people naturally gravitate towards this area anyway (the engineers didn’t just pick this place at random). If you want to cut down on competition for the best seat, try finding a theater that has reserved seats .

This story was originally published on 10/23/16 and updated on 9/17/19 to provide more complete and up-to-date information.

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