My question is, would a new one be significantly better than the old one in some way? Or has the technology not changed much in the meantime?
Significantly? Hard to say but these are the differences from the PAxx1 which is newer than the unit you have:
- approx. 1-2dE better uniformity than former PAxx1 series
- satin diffuser vs matte difuser in PAxx1 - the image is cleaner, with less sparkling/clouding effect and more punch
- lower minimal luminance - PA241 goes down to ~90cd/m^2 while PA242 achieves ~40cd/m^2 natively
- slightly larger gamut than PAxx1
- lower power consumption
- Improved long term stability.
- Mini DisplayPort and HDMI inputs.
- Ability to update factory calibration in SpectraView.
- Stand-alone calibration using the NEC MDSVSENSOR3 (NEC custom i1d3) on the PA302W (no software needed) LED backlight.
- The backlight sensor also monitors whitepoint in addition to luminance
- GB-R LED allows more precise control of whitepoint (vs. CCFL)
- LED backlight and luminance sensor = almost instant on & stable