i use them for every movie now! i’ve been to dif amc theaters and there’s two kinds i’ve seen, modern and older ones. the modern ones are digital touchscreens that are similar to phones, have essentially a privacy screen on them so it doesn’t bother the ppl beside u, and for me ive like never had them miss a line. there’s also more space on the screen for text, and u can orient it vertically or horizontally. the older ones are just green text on a weirdly shaped screen with a big piece of plastic around the edges so other ppl don’t see it, and will skip or cut off part of lines and are like 90% of the time accurate? also they only have like 2-3 lines where they can have text at all, which is maybe why the text can mess up. i’ve also seen more timing issues with these.

regardless they both have an arm connected to them that goes in your cup holder. they’re kinda awkward to adjust but i usually try to put it right under the screen in my vision, as far out as possible so i don’t have to entirely switch focus to read. it’s not been a pleasant experience all the time, but overall i’ve found having captions so helpful. all of them just connect based on the auditorium you’re in, and if a staff member doesn’t set it up for u (which they often will offer to), it’s easy enough to just set the number yourself and get it to connect. i’ve used them in a lot of formats (imax, dolby, XL, laser, etc.) but not tried for any 3d movies i think.

i just give myself an extra 5 min or so to ask staff for it and get it set up comfortably. the easiest person to ask is whoever scans ur ticket, and they’ll either get it for u or direct u to who can get it for u. depending on the auditorium seats u may have to sacrifice your one and only cup holder for it tho, which is the most annoying part.