Question - can I calibrate the 2490 with a 3rd party calibration tool? Am I right in assuming the advantage with the Spectraview is that it is able to save the calibration settings in the LCD?
Yes. If you want to calibrate the display's hardware, you have to use the Spectraview software. You don't have to use that given hardware, there is a whole list of hardware spectraview supports, but you do have to use the software. If you use third party software, you'll just do the calibration to the graphics card as with any other display. Nothing wrong with that, just means you don't get the advantage of the display's LUT.
Thanks for the help. It's hard to find any good info on this monitor since no one in their right mind would shell out this much for a 24". Well, no one except if they want the best and know the difference.