As easy as it is to just stay in and pop on your favorite streaming service while sitting on your couch wearing jammies, actually going to the movies can seem like an event. That, and the fact that ticket prices are out of hand. (Related: RIP MoviePass.)
So if you’re going to to through the trouble of putting on outside pants and leaving your house, you might as well make the most of your experience, starting with picking a good seat in the theater. But where exactly is that? Based on the way most theaters are set up, it will be two-thirds of the way back, in the center of the row.
As THX’s director of global technology Steve Martz explained to Vulture, technicians test the sound and video quality in an under-construction theater by taking microphone measurements from several spots in the seats. While the goal is to make the experience the best for every seat in the house, the closer you can get to where they tested, the better your seats will be. This typically means you’ll want to be in the center of the row, about two-thirds of the way back from the screen.
This bundle of microphones includes a “primary microphone” that is used to set playback levels, speaker timing, and other parameters that require a single location for measurements and calibration. 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. “And then spread out to other areas as the cinema gets full.”
Of course, many people already gravitate towards this area naturally anyway (engineers didn’t just pick that spot at random). If you want to cut down on competition for the best seat, try finding a theater that uses reserved seating.
This story was originally published on 10/23/16 and was updated on 9/17/19 to provide more thorough and current information.