Why are cinema seats red? It's not about creating an atmosphere, it's about our cells

Those who often go to the cinema to watch movies will notice that most of the seats in the cinema are red. Is this design arrangement for aesthetics, or is there any scientific principle behind it?

Why are most theater seats red?

The seats in movie theaters are generally red, mainly to enhance the audience's viewing experience.

When the audience enters the venue or when a flashlight is used, red is very conspicuous and easy to distinguish the seat position; when the movie starts, as the light dims, the cone cells in our eyes that are good at distinguishing colors begin to slack off, and the rod cells that are not good at distinguishing colors begin to take turns to work. The most sensitive band of rod cells is about 505 nanometers (blue-green), and they are least sensitive to red light with a wavelength greater than 640 nanometers. Therefore, when the light dims, red will appear darker than other colors, and the red seats will quickly disappear from our sight, helping the audience to quickly focus on the movie and achieve the best viewing state.

In addition, in a dim movie screening environment, red seats will not reflect light as easily as light-colored seats, thus ensuring that the screen display will not be disturbed and the audience's viewing experience will be better. Moreover, red is a color that is very resistant to dirt. Even if the seats are slightly old, it will not affect the overall effect of the theater, so red has become the best choice.

Two types of photoreceptors with very different functions

The human eye processes visual objects differently during the day and at night. There are two types of visual cells in the human body, rod cells and cone cells. During bright daytime, the eye uses cone cells on the retina to process visual images; at night, when the light is dim, the eye uses rod cells on the retina to process visual images.

The photoreceptors contain different photopigments, which have different sensitivities to different wavelengths of light. When light shines in, the photopigments break down, convert the light signals into electrical signals, and then transmit them to other photoreceptors. After the photopigments break down, they need some time to be resynthesized.

Although cone cells do not have many photosensitive pigments, they have a strong ability to resynthesize after decomposition; rod cells are attached to a large number of photosensitive pigments, and the light sensitivity can be adjusted over a large range. They can be activated by one or two photons, but the ability to resynthesize pigments is weaker.

During the day, when there is sufficient light, the photosensitive pigments of the rod cells are easily decomposed and need a long time to be resynthesized. The cone cells are mainly working stably. At night, when the light is weak, it is the rod cells' home field, while the cone cells have less pigment and low sensitivity to photons. At this time, they are no longer active, so it is difficult for us to distinguish colors and details at night.

Simply put, cones have a high degree of resolution for the fine structure and color of objects and are good at color vision, while rods can only distinguish the general outlines and brightness differences of objects and are good at monochrome night vision.

The best viewing position is not simply in the middle

Choosing the best viewing position when watching a movie seems to be more important than the color of the seats. In fact, the best viewing position for audio-visual effects is not simply the middle position, but requires a comprehensive consideration of many factors such as the type of movie, theater specifications, screen size, step angle, screen angle, and viewing needs.

For 2D movies, according to the best viewing position guidelines published by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, first of all, the picture needs to fill the audience's field of vision as much as possible, and the angle between the audience and the two sides of the screen should be at least ≥36°. Secondly, in order to avoid cervical fatigue, the elevation angle between the audience and the horizontal line of the screen should not exceed 35°.

Considering the audio-visual effects, the best viewing positions for theaters of different sizes are summarized as follows:

If it is a small hall with 8-14 rows, it is best to choose a position in the center front and back of rows 5 and 6; if it is a medium hall with 15-20 rows, it is best to choose a position in the center front and back of rows 7 and 8; if it is a large hall or IMAX hall with 21-25 rows, it is best to choose a position in the center front and back of rows 9 and 10.

If you are watching a 3D movie, since 3D glasses will reduce the screen brightness by about 40%, for better visual effects, you should sit at a position 1/2 of the way from the screen to the projection window.

The ticket prices at different seats in the same screening room in a cinema are different and are all priced according to the viewing effect. Since everyone's viewing needs are different, the specific choice should be made based on one's own needs.