Movie theater headache

I went to the movies with my partner to see the new “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”. Fun movie, btw. More dramatic than what I was expecting. But this is not about the movie itself.

I usually don't like 3D because it gives me a headache, so I was looking at the options on the Cineplex website to get the tickets and I saw “ScreenX” and “Ultra AVX”. I have not been up to date with movie theater technologies, so I just picked the one that had the best time available for us.

And that was the ScreenX one (for some reason this name sounds like a glass cleaner product or something).

ScreenX is described as having:

...270-degree panoramic screen in select scenes that naturally fills your peripheral vision and surrounds you with boundless adventure.

Okay, so it will be like a curved wide screen right?

Wrong.

It was a normal rectangular room, with the main screen located where it usually is, with the side walls having screens as well. So, the lateral screens are situated at almost 90-degrees angle with the big screen. Not really the panoramic view I was expecting.

All of this to say that this experience gave me a major migraine. The “peripheral” screens did not work for me at all. I tried to focus on the main screen anyway, since most of the scene was there, but the glare and brightness of these lateral screens affected me somehow.

I left the movie theater feeling exhausted, with a headache and not wanting to see bright lights. Or the sun, or any lights. I came home and had to lie down in the dark for about an hour to feel better about my vision. I also took Ibuprofen, because it was that bad.

Even after a night's sleep I still had a headache the next day, and I couldn't stare at my computer screen for too long. Even reading was hard because of the headache.

I feel better today, but I'm trying to take computer breaks more frequently at work.

Lesson learned: never go for ScreenX again.

Post 11 of #Blaugust #journal #NoisyMusings

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.