Sorry to clarify my point #1, I'm asking about whether the i1 display calibrator itself is still capable of generating an accurate profile. If it were to experience some kind of soft failure in the hardware making it less accurate, how would I know?
I just downloaded displayCal (argyllCMS) and I'm starting to play with that. But it's a little concerning because the i1 software is saying my screen is right at 120 cd/m^2 whereas display cal is reporting 130+ (in the exact same position, same LCD brightness setting). I didn't expect this much disagreement.