GoKawiilThe KTC M27T6S has a few flaws, most of which can be solved with the right OSD settings. But it delivers excellent video processing, tremendous color volume and high brightness for an impressively low price.
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It’s a given that speed and smoothness are what separate the best gaming monitors from average ones. Once you get to the short list of candidates for purchase, the next consideration is brightness and color. A vivid and luminant screen enhances the gaming experience almost as much as high refresh rates.
The brightest and most colorful category right now is Quantum Dot Mini LED. Full-array local dimming, when done right, can deliver blacks almost as deep as a good OLED and peak highlights over 1,000 nits. You’ll be hard-pressed to find an OLED that bright.
Monitors like this were once expensive, but here I have a sample from KTC, the M27T6S. This 27-inch Fast IPS monitor sports QHD 2560x1440 resolution, 200 Hz (210 Hz with overclock), a Mini LED backlight with 1,152 dimming zones, Quantum Dot wide gamut color, Adaptive-Sync, and HDR1000 for just $290 at this writing. Let’s take a look.
KTC M27T6S Specs
Swipe to scroll horizontally Panel Type / Backlight IPS / Mini LED Row 1 - Cell 0 1,152 dimming zones Screen Size / Aspect Ratio 27 inches / 16:9 Max Resolution and Refresh Rate 2560x1440 @ 200 Hz Row 4 - Cell 0 210 Hz w/overclock Row 5 - Cell 0 FreeSync and G-Sync Compatible Native Color Depth and Gamut 8-bit / DCI-P3 Response Time (GTG) 1ms Brightness (mfr) 450 nits SDR Row 9 - Cell 0 1,000 nits HDR Contrast (mfr) 1,000:1 Speakers None Video Inputs 1x DisplayPort 1.4 Row 13 - Cell 0 2x HDMI 2.0 Audio 3.5mm headphone output USB None Power Consumption 28.8w, brightness @ 200 nits Panel Dimensions WxHxD w/base 24.3 x 16.1-21.3 x 8.3 inches (617 x 409-541 x 211mm) Panel Thickness 2.8 inches (72mm) Bezel Width Top/sides: 0.35 inch (9mm) Row 20 - Cell 0 Bottom: 0.63 inch (16mm) Weight 14.41 pounds (6.55kg) Warranty 3 years
KTC is new to me as a reviewer, but not to the market. It has been selling monitors in the US for 30 years, some under other badges, but since 2021, it has broken out as its own gaming brand. KTC means “Key To Combat” and focuses on high performance and value.
The M27T6S has an impressive list of attributes. A Mini LED panel with 1,152 dimming zones and HDR1000 for $290? That’s enough to drive a purchase on its own. A Quantum Dot film widens the color gamut to a near-record-setting 117.24% coverage of DCI-P3. That’s a lot of color, and it makes a significant difference, easily seen in a side-by-side comparison. You also get selectable gamuts for when you need sRGB or Adobe RGB. Accuracy out of the box is fair and gets better with calibration.
Gamers will enjoy the 200 Hz refresh rate, which can be reliably overclocked to 210 Hz with a switch in the OSD. There’s Adaptive-Sync, of course; it works with Nvidia and AMD graphics cards. And when running at slower frame rates, MPRT activates a backlight strobe to cut motion blur. The overdrive includes an Auto setting, which varies the amount of overshoot with changes in refresh rate.
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