Video Quality
Spider-Man: Homecoming's UHD release contains both HDR and Dolby Vision color. Unfortunately, we are currently not able to review Dolby Vision but we are studying equipment options and will be upgrading in the near future. The HDR color palette doesn't fundamentally alter the movie's overall color scheme. It's a reserved, tasteful application, offering a modest boost in saturation and accuracy to the red and blue Spider-Man suit, the tradeoff being a smidgen of vibrancy. The added depth is well worth that trade, however, as there's an appreciable, but still relatively minor, increase in nuance. The same holds true for other shades seen throughout, notably the widely diverse colors in dense urban areas and school interiors. The 2160p 4K image is an upscale; the film was reportedly photographed at 2.8K and finished at 2K. The resultant UHD offers a fair, but not overwhelming, increase in textural clarity and sharpness. The Spider-Man suit is, again, a key beneficiary (and why not, it's the primary prop in the entire movie), revealing a finer level of material density and pinpoint detailing over even that of the top-end 1080p Blu-ray. Those little bumpy surface textures and other little touches offer a more enticing visual display. Likewise, skin textures are appreciably sharper and firmer, as are, again, various urban environments or the Iron Man and Vulture costumes. Black levels remain solidly deep and skin tones accurate. The image still struggles through some light noise but is otherwise good-to-go.
Audio Quality
Spider-Man: Homecoming swings onto UHD with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack that delivers a superior listen over the Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track delivers much more seamless fluidity and increased definition throughout the range, and at the bottom end in particular. Action scenes are sonic gold mines. An explosion in chapter eight delivers a seriously intense concussive blast through the listening area. It's a well-defined jolt, an exemplary burst of low end goodness that compliments its scene strongly. That's followed by cracks, rattles, and shakes that together create a chaotic sequence where the listener will feel as if they're in the close-quarter confines of this location's peril. Every other action scene delivers similar results, each a symphony of sonic chaos featuring enhanced bass and a much more fluid and seamless sense of movement and total stage immersion over the 5.1 presentation, the track clearly benefiting form the added back-surround and overhead channels. The top end is utilized as a prominent compliment. Elements that should engage up high do so, but never to the point that the listener's full attention is drawn away from the central action. For all the power, clarity never wavers, for all the movement, none of it seems overused. Dialogue and music, of course, are also clear and detailed, and immersive environmental support elements seamlessly draw the listener into the movie' less sonically intense set pieces. The Blu-ray's track is fine, but those not able to enjoy this track are missing out. Sony needs to start making Atmos standard on all releases where an Atmos track exists on the UHD.
4K Bluray details
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision + HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles
English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Dutch, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Thai
Discs
4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD-66, 1 BD-50)
Bonus View (PiP)
Digital
Digital copy expired
Movies Anywhere
Packaging
Slipcover in original pressing
