diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5582560..eeefa45 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+0.5.0 pre
+---------
+
+ - Fix crash on open in use serial device
+ - Use a Defaults module for all settings -
+   ignores old .ini settings
+ - Refactoring and unifying Chart classes
+ - No more automatic update checks (more privacy)
+
 0.4.0
 -----
 
diff --git a/NanoVNASaver/Defaults.py b/NanoVNASaver/Defaults.py
index ed6cc2f..51fa66a 100644
--- a/NanoVNASaver/Defaults.py
+++ b/NanoVNASaver/Defaults.py
@@ -19,13 +19,15 @@
 
 import dataclasses as DC
 import logging
-import json
-
-from PyQt5.QtCore import QSettings
+from ast import literal_eval
 
+from PyQt5 import QtCore
+from PyQt5.QtCore import QSettings, QByteArray
+from PyQt5.QtGui import QColor
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+
 # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
 # pylint: disable=too-many-instance-attributes
 @DC.dataclass
@@ -33,12 +35,22 @@ class GUI:
     window_height: int = 950
     window_width: int = 1433
     font_size: int = 8
+    custom_colors: bool = False
     dark_mode: bool = False
-    # TODO: implement QByteArray
-    splitter_sizes: bytearray = DC.field(default_factory=bytearray)
+    splitter_sizes: QByteArray = DC.field(default_factory=QByteArray)
     markers_hidden: bool = False
 
 
+@DC.dataclass
+class ChartsSelected:
+    chart_00: str = 'S11 Smith Chart'
+    chart_01: str = 'S11 Return Loss'
+    chart_02: str = 'None'
+    chart_10: str = 'S21 Polar Plot'
+    chart_11: str = 'S21 Gain'
+    chart_12: str = 'None'
+
+
 @DC.dataclass
 class Chart:
     point_size: int = 2
@@ -50,16 +62,51 @@ class Chart:
     marker_at_tip: bool = False
     marker_size: int = 8
     returnloss_is_positive: bool = False
+    show_bands: bool = False
+    vswr_lines: list = DC.field(default_factory=lambda: [])
+
+@DC.dataclass
+class ChartColors:  # pylint: disable=too-many-instance-attributes
+    background: QColor = QColor(QtCore.Qt.white)
+    foreground: QColor = QColor(QtCore.Qt.lightGray)
+    reference: QColor = QColor(0, 0, 255, 64)
+    reference_secondary: QColor = QColor(0, 0, 192, 48)
+    sweep: QColor = QColor(QtCore.Qt.darkYellow)
+    sweep_secondary: QColor = QColor(QtCore.Qt.darkMagenta)
+    swr: QColor = QColor(255, 0, 0, 128)
+    text: QColor = QColor(QtCore.Qt.black)
+    bands: QColor = QColor(128, 128, 128, 48)
+
+
+@DC.dataclass
+class Markers:
+    active_labels: list = DC.field(default_factory=lambda: [
+        "actualfreq", "impedance", "serr", "serl", "serc", "parr", "parlc",
+        "vswr", "returnloss", "s11q", "s11phase", "s21gain", "s21phase",
+    ])
+    colored_names: bool = True
+    color_0: QColor = QColor(QtCore.Qt.darkGray)
+    color_1: QColor = QColor(255, 0, 0)
+    color_2: QColor = QColor(0, 255, 0)
+    color_3: QColor = QColor(0, 0, 255)
+    color_4: QColor = QColor(0, 255, 255)
+    color_5: QColor = QColor(255, 0, 255)
+    color_6: QColor = QColor(255, 255, 0)
+    color_7: QColor = QColor(QtCore.Qt.lightGray)
 
 
 @DC.dataclass
 class CFG:
     gui: object = GUI()
+    charts_selected: object = ChartsSelected()
     chart: object = Chart()
+    chart_colors: object = ChartColors()
+    markers: object = Markers()
 
 
 cfg = CFG()
 
+
 def restore(settings: 'AppSettings') -> CFG:
     result = CFG()
     for field in DC.fields(result):
@@ -70,15 +117,42 @@ def restore(settings: 'AppSettings') -> CFG:
     return result
 
 
-def store(settings: 'AppSettings', data: CFG) -> None:
+def store(settings: 'AppSettings', data: CFG = None) -> None:
+    data = data or cfg
     logger.debug("storing\n(\n%s\n)", data)
     assert isinstance(data, CFG)
     for field in DC.fields(data):
-        data_class  = getattr(data, field.name)
+        data_class = getattr(data, field.name)
         assert DC.is_dataclass(data_class)
         settings.store_dataclass(field.name.upper(), data_class)
 
 
+def from_type(data) -> str:
+    type_map = {
+        bytearray: lambda x: x.hex(),
+        QColor: lambda x: x.getRgb(),
+        QByteArray: lambda x: x.toHex(),
+    }
+    if type(data) in type_map:
+        return str(type_map[type(data)](data))
+    return str(data)
+
+
+def to_type(data: object, data_type: type) -> object:
+    type_map = {
+        bool: lambda x: x.lower() == 'true',
+        bytearray: bytearray.fromhex,
+        list: literal_eval,
+        tuple: literal_eval,
+        QColor: lambda x: QColor.fromRgb(*literal_eval(x)),
+        QByteArray: lambda x: QByteArray.fromHex(literal_eval(x)),
+    }
+    if data_type in type_map:
+        return type_map[data_type](data)
+    return data_type(data)
+
+
+# noinspection PyDataclass
 class AppSettings(QSettings):
     def store_dataclass(self, name: str, data: object) -> None:
         assert DC.is_dataclass(data)
@@ -87,16 +161,11 @@ class AppSettings(QSettings):
             value = getattr(data, field.name)
             try:
                 assert isinstance(value, field.type)
-            except AssertionError:
-                logger.error("%s: %s is not a %s", name, field.name,
-                               field.type)
-                continue
-            if field.type not in (int, float, str, bool):
-                try:
-                    value = json.dumps(value)
-                except TypeError:
-                    value = field.type(value).hex()
-            self.setValue(field.name, value)
+            except AssertionError as exc:
+                logger.error("%s: %s of type %s is not a %s",
+                             name, field.name, type(value), field.type)
+                raise TypeError from exc
+            self.setValue(field.name, from_type(value))
         self.endGroup()
 
     def restore_dataclass(self, name: str, data: object) -> object:
@@ -105,21 +174,14 @@ class AppSettings(QSettings):
         result = DC.replace(data)
         self.beginGroup(name)
         for field in DC.fields(data):
-            value = None
-            if field.type in (int, float, str, bool):
-                value = self.value(field.name,
-                                   type=field.type,
-                                   defaultValue=field.default)
-            else:
-                default = getattr(data, field.name)
-                try:
-                    value = json.loads(
-                        self.value(field.name, type=str,
-                                   defaultValue=json.dumps(default)))
-                except TypeError:
-                    value = self.value(field.name)
-                    value = bytes.fromhex(value) if value is str else default
-            setattr(result, field.name, field.type(value))
+            default = getattr(data, field.name)
+            value = self.value(field.name, type=str, defaultValue="")
+            if not value:
+                setattr(result, field.name, default)
+                continue
+            try:
+                setattr(result, field.name, to_type(value, field.type))
+            except TypeError:
+                setattr(result, field.name, default)
         self.endGroup()
-
         return result
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0e277a6..d4c5dc0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -17,6 +17,14 @@ points, and generally display and analyze the resulting data.
 Latest Changes
 --------------
 
+### Changes in 0.5.0 pre
+
+ - Fix crash on open in use serial device
+ - Use a Defaults module for all settings -
+   ignores old .ini settings
+ - Refactoring and unifying Chart classes
+ - No more automatic update checks (more privacy)
+
 ### Changes in 0.4.0
 
  - PA0JOZ Enhanced Response Correction
@@ -36,12 +44,6 @@ Latest Changes
 - Reference plane applied after calibration
 - Calibration fixes by DiSlord
 
-### Changes in v0.3.9
-
-- TX Power on V2
-- New analysis
-- Magnitude Z Chart
-- VSWR Chart improvements
 
 Introduction
 ------------