This monitor was a fantastic buy at $330 USD. I have had it since August 2018 and have not had a single defect or failure yet. I will update this review if I ever do. I can easily see myself using this for the next 4+ years.Pros:Panel and build quality on par with Samsung monitorsNo dead pixels or other defects whatsoeverAccurate Color Reproduction (After Calibration)Very bright with excellent contrastThe deepest black level I have ever seen outside the plasma displaysAll features work as advertised (Haven't yet tested Vesa mounting)Free-sync compatible and works with G-sync now as wellNo backlight bleedPerfect AntiglareGreat underplayed aesthetic works for a gaming rig and office setups alikeCons:Slightly underwhelming calibration options and out of box color accuracy(Missing Granular Vibrance control in OSD)Slight ghosting even at 144Hz (As expected from a VA panel)Painfully annoying onscreen menu navigationThe stand is not as bad as it looks, but still subparHidden Bezels not present in advertising (There is half an inch on the top left and right that does not actually contain pixels, and is always black)SETTING UPSo far I have spent 9 months with this monitor, and have very few complaints. It came in a Viotek branded box with excellent packing to keep the monitor safe in transit. The box also makes a great way to carry the monitor as it is easy to repack and everything into the molded styrofoam as long as you keep track of everything that came with the box. Setup is super easy and while the stand looks dinky and unsturdy in the promotional images, when the monitor is sitting on a desk it is incredibly stable due to the tinny rubber feet and excellent wobble free construction of the metal tri-stand. The stand does take up quite a bit of room though, so it's not ideal for small desks. I will try a VESA mounting arm to alleviate this soon.Setting up is super easy and only requires one screw to get the stand together which then snaps into place with a satisfying and reassuring click. The monitor can be carried around by the stand, helping avoid fingerprints on the screen. Once attached it feels sturdy, doesn't wobble and won't budge unless given a good shove. Unfortunately, there is no swivel or height adjustment, only tilt up and down, which is crucial to tilt toward your face or else the curve will be distracting. The stand itself is far less visually distracting than it looks in the promotional images, as the monitor sits lower down in real life and covers most of the stand, drowning the upper half in shadow. Even so, the legs stick out 3 inches in front of the monitor at 30° angles obstructing keyboard space slightly, and the back of the stand extends behind the panel about 5 inches, forcing the monitor to rest further away from the wall further limiting desk space.FIRST IMPRESSIONSThe first thing you will notice when turning on the monitor is a blinding white splash screen that appears every time you boot from off. It's bright enough to wake up my roommate on the other side of the room in a dark room, but can be avoided if you are willing to leave the monitor in sleep mode and never turn the monitor itself off. Although, sleep mode comes with it's own annoyance in the form of a blinking blue light that shies below the monitor flashing on and off every 0.8 seconds. The monitor takes a long time to turn on (about 7.5 seconds, making the time it takes to turn on the monitor longer than the time-to-bios on an average motherboard) meaning you may often miss the BIOS prompt of your motherboard if you access the bios a lot.Cables are well hidden and not noticeable during normal use from the front or the back. and the panel looks far fancier than it has any right being. When the monitor is on, the bezels are visible and not ideal for a multimonitor setup, but when the screen is off they blend in with the rest of the monitor as the great looking and very uniform antiglare coating give the whole front side a premium look and feel. Since the bezels are always pitch black portions of the screen, when off they are invisible making the entire screen look usable when in fact there are black bezels there that are obvious when it is on. Again, this is not ideal for multi-monitor configurations.CALIBRATIONOnce booted you'll be may be pleased with the panel, which offers OK out of the box calibration but can be much improved with a little effort and tinkering. Right away you'll notice near-perfect black levels and bright backlight a very pleasing combo. If you use dark themes or apps with lots of deep blacks or bright whites, this VA panel will really shine. Colors will come out muted unless you take the time to adjust the setting in the OSD as well and tinker in your GPU's control panel to improve the out-of-the-box calibration. I found my panel look best with the following values:In the OSD everything left at default except: Brightness (Which actually controls the backlight intensity) Contrast set to 60 DCR set to off Color Temperature adjusted to correct the white point Saturation set to 65 Gamma set to 2.4 * Enable Freesync if you plan to use Gsync or Freesync You'll need to adjust desktop color further to your liking using your GPU's control panel settings (Nvidia control panel or Radeon Settings)For the Nvidia Control Panel I attached the setting I used as an image, but this is really a matter of taste. Adjust these to your liking.* Viotek did something weird with the gamma here. I spent many hours toggling all the other setting trying to figure out why I could never get it to look quite right. As it turns out, gamma values in the menu are off by 0.2. The 2.0 setting is actually 1.8, the 2.2 is 2.0, and the 2.4 is 2.2. Therefore the correct gamma value of 2.2 is achieved by setting the gamma to an OSD value of 2.4.I don't have professional color balance tools, but with these values, the monitor appears very color accurate to the naked eye. The white point is centered, colors are saturated but not overblown and the hue contrast and sharpness all produce a convincing image. This process is painful due to the annoying and uncomfortable OSD navigation, but once set, it's something you never have to do again.DEFECTS AND PERFORMANCE In my experience, performance has been flawless with both Gsync and freesync. The monitor's max refresh is a true 144Hz at 2560X1440p as advertised. I've had 0 dead pixels so far (knock on wood) and the panel looks as good as any other Samsung made 1440p panel out there. The colors pop and still look realistic, and the high refresh rate and high contrast make this a great gaming and productivity monitor, not to mention the rather large size. For me it has no backlight bleed and really uniform backlighting. The antiglare is also way above average. I can shine a flashlight directly at the monitor from any angle and the light diffuses evenly, leaving minimal glare. I run it facing a window with no blinds 24-7 and have not had any problems with glare. It truly is a Samsung monitor in another company's housing. Construction of the outer shell looks and feels solid everywhere except for one part, the cable cover in the back is made of very thin plastic that flexes when handles and feels flimsy like it will break. Luckily, this is only handled when moving the monitor or attaching new cables. There's nothing much else to say about this monitor other than it's an outstanding product for the price. Viotek may have been a no-name brand but the company is certainly carving itself a spot in the enthusiast grade and budget builder space and is now recognized as a viable competitor to other popular brands.