What's the best row in a movie theater?
The best row will bethe center row and the four rows behind it(this places you about one-half to two-thirds back).
Why these seats have a great picture:
To go easy on your neck, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommends that your vertical line of sight should be at about 15 degrees below the horizontal center line of the screen, and should not exceed 35 degrees from the horizontal top of the screen. Think of a clock: if 9 o'clock is the horizontal center line, your viewing angle should range from 8 o'clock to 10 o'clock. That would generally place you in about the middle row, depending on the theater.
Of course, not everyone agrees. "If the movie is projected on film, I like to sit up close in the first to third row," says Antos. "I like to take in all the grain and detail and have the image fill most of my peripheral detail." Plus, he says, "You can stretch your legs out!"
Why these seats havegreatsound:
Happily, the best viewing angle usually coincides with the best place to take in sound. This isn't an accident. "Generally, auditoriums and screening rooms are designed so that the 'best' seat is one-half to two-thirds of the way back from the screen," says Antos, explaining that that's where engineers sit when balancing the theater's sound. "This is also where you would get the clearest separation of audio channels."
