KTC M27T6S 27-inch QHD Mini LED gaming monitor review: Affordable, colorful, and bright

KTC delivers high brightness and saturated color from the M27T6S.

KTC M27T6S
(Image credit: © Tom's Hardware)

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My M27T6S sample looked a little off the mark before calibration in its User picture mode. Luckily, there are plenty of options to deal with any image anomalies.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

The M27T6S runs a bit cool in tone out of the box, with errors visible from 20 to 100% brightness. It also looks a little light with flat textures and a slightly hazy appearance. This is mainly due to the light gamma you can see in the first chart. Though the preset says 2.2, it’s closer to 2.0, which is too light. With some back and forth of the RGB sliders and a change to 2.4 gamma, the picture is much more realistic. The haze is gone and color is much more vivid.

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sRGB mode shows similar traits with a cool grayscale and light gamma. Unfortunately, when you use the Professional modes, color temps and gamma presets are grayed out, so you can’t fix the errors.

Comparisons

The M27T6S’s 6.74dE grayscale value means you should calibrate for a more neutral tone. With changes to the RGB sliders, the number drops to 1.35dE which puts it on par with its competitors. There is no visible error. Changing the gamma preset from 2.2 to 2.4 also makes a significant improvement in that the picture gains depth and texture. At the defaults, it’s a bit hazy. That change also brings the M27T6S in line with the other screens.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

You can see that the M27T6S’s native color gamut is very large and goes well past the DCI-P3 perimeter. All three primaries are oversaturated with green and yellow off in hue. This makes me wonder if KTC is going for BT.2020. And the second chart above confirms that they are. It almost fills green, goes over 100% for blue, and hits 90% red. This is one of the most colorful monitors I’ve ever tested.

After calibration, the inner points are more oversaturated due to the change in gamma. This is something of a compromise, but ultimately, the picture looks much better with the changes.

In sRGB mode, the blue/green color temperature pulls magenta and yellow off their hue targets. The light gamma indicates that the inner red points are undersaturated. With an average error of 3.28dE, this mode is usable but not quite at the professional level.

Comparisons

The M27T6S has some room for improvement in the out-of-the-box color tests, but gets closer to the mark with calibration. Grayscale gets there, but the color gamut still has a few visible errors. But since they are oversaturation errors, they are easier to forgive. Few users will complain about a very colorful monitor. This one is more colorful than just about anything else out there.

You can see that in the volume test, where the M27T6S fills over 117% of the DCI-P3 gamut. It is rare to find that much color volume outside the professional genre. KTC uses Quantum Dot tech to its fullest potential here. The sRGB volume is nearly ideal at 96.93%.

Test Takeaway: Aside from a few out-of-the-box issues, the M27T6S delivers good color performance with tremendous volume and a vivid presentation. It isn’t the most accurate screen I’ve tested, but it is very nice to look at. And no one will complain about a very colorful display.

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Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.