KTC H32S25E 32" review, a 1440p 240Hz VRR gaming monitor offering good value for money

There are too many monitors out there today in every budget category you can imagine. It's almost too tough to decide on one, and brand doesn't really matter either as generally the panel inside is going to be a Samsung, LG, or Sony, typically.

The budget end of the scale is even more trivial in that the choices are nearly limitless, with new models coming out every other month these days.

KTC has a number of monitors covering a range of budgets and sizes targeting different types of computer user. Today, I want to talk about a gaming monitor that KTC kindly sent to me to check out and share my experience.

This is the H32S25E, a 32" 1440p monitor that offers VRR, a 1000R curve, which has quite the effect when sat directly in front of it, a more subtle curve such as 1500R or 1800R is more to my preference, as anything of this size with this deep a curve can give the illusion of distortion when viewing anything with straight lines.

Out of the box

The H32S25E (I'll call it the H32 from here on...) comes in two parts, the stand and the monitor. It's easy enough to assemble without using the bundled screwdriver tool as the screw at the bottom of the stand has a thumb tab, and there is no other articulation of the stand except vertical tilt, which is a shame, but reflective of the price, I guess.

The overall construction is solid, but it is obviously all plastic barring the stand. There are no fancy features here with the H32, it is as barebone as they come, the USB port can't even act as a hub as there is no USB uplink, it is purely for firmware update purposes, and the only form of audio is via the 3.5mm output jack, no HDMI-ARC here, either.

Features & OSD

As mentioned, this is a budget monitor and as such, there are no additional features here, just the minimum of what is expected. Console gamers who might have wanted to look at this as something for their workstation may wish to look elsewhere, since the HDMI ports are v2.0 only, not 2.1 which is what the current gen consoles all use.

For reference, here are the HDMI specs required for past and current gen consoles:

• PS4/Xbox One/Xbox One S: HDMI 1080p 60Hz with HDR, high-speed HDMI, or HDMI 1.4

• PS4 Pro/Xbox One X: HDMI 2.0 or a premium HDMI cable for 4K 30Hz or 1080p 60Hz with HDR

• PS5/Xbox Series X|S: HDMI 2.1 or an ultra high-speed HDMI port for 4K 60Hz-120Hz and 1080p 120Hz

OSD gallery:

The OSD navigation is via a single joystick on the back right of the monitor, it's easy to use but I dislike the inconvenient position of the joystick as it means having to reach around the back each time as opposed to a more normal position like at the bottom of the bezel like on other monitors.

We have FreeSync and G-Sync support here, and this seemed to work well. I tested on both Nvidia (RTX 4090) and AMD (6800XT) systems without any issues, though VRR was not usable on a Linux test system I have, though I suspect that is because the GPU on that box is too old.

Weirdly, on Linux, I was able to select 4K (shown above) which ran at 30Hz (iGPU limitation, possible it can go higher) without problem, setting the display scaling to around 125% resulted in decent image clarity as well, which was a bit of a surprise since I was unable to set a higher resolution on Windows than the standard 2560x1440 at 240Hz via DisplayPort.

Picture & Performance

From experience, all three LCD panel types, VA, TN and IPS, can vary wildly by the level of backlight bleed they exhibit. IPS often has the best bleed control, but at this price range you play the BLB lottery really, and this H32 is no exception. The sample I have here displays a lot of noticeable bleed that is visible head-on, but immediately visible the moment you move even slightly off centre, which isn't the same as VA tinge (like a variation of IPS glow).

The demo above shows what I mean, this is only slightly off centre, which happens often when using a screen of this size if you're multi-tasking or just sitting casually instead of upright and directly centre to the panel.

The issue manifests itself in dark games, too. Above is an example playing Silent Hill 2 Remake, the experience is less than favourable indeed, which is a shame because VA panels tend to have the better black levels between the three mentioned LCD types.

Whilst the picture quality may not be ideal when playing dark games, I moved the screen over to the AMD 6800XT system for some fast-paced gaming, and here is where the panel shines. Unlike other VA panels, there is only minimal ghosting that i could detect with my eyes at 240Hz. It's a much nicer experience than the Huawei MateView GT 34" Ultrawide which is the only other VA panel I have, though it maxes out at 165Hz.

So, picture quality is indeed fine when not playing dark games, which is to be expected for nearly all LCD based monitors. If you sit fully central to the H32, then the VA tinge and backlight bleed aren't as much of an issue, though move even slightly off-centre, and these traits will be noticeable and can often be a distraction.

KTC promotes the H32's expanded colour range, though this is in part to satisfy the HDR capabilities, even if the HDR isn't certified to a display standard such as DisplayHDR True Black, or HDR10+ and so on. It is just 'HDR'. I tried it out briefly and found it to be just OK, nothing spectacular, and there isn't any fancy local dimming with this panel, so HDR is only ever going to be so good anyway.

I also don't think delving into colour accuracy has any benefit because of the mentioned issues with contrast/image shift at anything that isn't directly central when looking at the screen. A colorimeter measures directly head-on to a display, so measurements do not reflect actual reality when sat a few feet away from it at a workstation.

It is clear to me that there is a strict focus with the H32, to be a high-performance gaming monitor offering 240Hz and VRR at 1440p on a 32" panel. VA may not be the best choice for gaming, but it does have a benefit over IPS which is fitting for a display in this price range, especially at 32", though, this gaming benefit may only be realised by PC gamers and last gen console players, since there is no HDMI 2.1 support to leverage what current gen consoles are capable of.

The final test here is just to demonstrate the level of ghosting/trailing using the popular UFO test. This was recorded at 1/1250s to bypass any chance of camera blur, with the panel in its default 240Hz and FreeSync left enabled.

There is some ghosting visible, but nothing major, and as a baseline reference, this is what it looks like on a QD-OLED panel also at 240Hz:

Conclusion

At $330, the H32 offers an affordable entry into 240Hz 32" gaming, even if that is at 1440p, though do not be concerned with that resolution, it's still clear and crisp when gaming.

Reading around on comments across the web, it seems this model can come up on flash sales from time to time at around $230, an even more compelling price. If you are not playing dark games a lot, then this monitor makes for a great way to enter high performance 1440p PC gaming.

Yes, it does have its downsides, no built-in speakers, no HDMI-ARC, no HDMI 2.1, no additional features other than the minimum expected for a 240Hz VRR display, but at $330 I'm not sure if more could have been expected either, especially at this screen size.

What you get is decent image quality when nothing dark is on display, good performance with good levels of motion ghosting control thanks to the high refresh rate, which is only available when using DisplayPort.

I think it can be recommended at this price, though if it can be had during a flash sale then it becomes a no-brainer. Either way, it is important to be aware the quirks and traits of a cheaper VA panel to avoid any potential disappointment.

It's a shame that VA based panels never really escaped the issues with dark scene gaming. The tinge/glow is more distracting than IPS glow, and IPS does not have the same image shift issues when viewing from a non-central angle. The backlight bleeding is further improved on panels with a MiniLED backlight, as well as offering dimming zones for better HDR results.

Of course, these features come at a cost, features that can't really be expected at this price.

Lastly, the power adapter is external on this monitor, and due to a logistics issue with the review sample, KTC sent out a universal adapter available from Amazon which worked perfectly. So anyone fearing the adapter that comes with the H32 dying in years to come could easily use a universal one, just match up the output rating and all is well.