I don’t know why NEC needs to make life so complicated for those of us living in Europe. The situation here in Germany is as follows: all of the ‘Color Accurate Desktop Displays’ are sold in two versions; one is simply called ‘SpectraView’ follow by a number (232, 242, 272, etc.) and the other is called ‘SpectraView Reference’ (...follow by a number). As far as hardware is concerned, both monitor versions are identical (I received confirmation of this from several NEC representatives during the last Photokina), and both are shipped with a CD containing, among other things, the ‘SpectraView Profiler 5’ software which, as many of you know, is nothing other than the ‘basiCColor Display 5’ software. The differences, other than the ‘Reference’ version being considerably more expensive, is that it (the Reference version) is shipped with a detachable viewing hood and comes with a signed ‘SpectraView Certifier Document’ which supposedly validates the monitor’s pixel and calibration accuracy. Since I am not very fond of the basiCColor Display 5 software, I purchased the SpectraView II software directly from NEC (with help from my stepson who lives in the States) and installed it on my Mac Pro (also early 2009) for use with my SpectraView Reference 271. I have never encountered any problems whatsoever. Calibration is done with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro.
Unfortunately we’ve needed to have this discussion frequently here at the LuLa forum. Understandably so! Indubitably, the needs of photographers vary considerably, but certainly not between nations and continents! Is NEC listening? Having said this, NEC does manufacture excellent monitors (!) and the new PA272 is supposed to be even better than the older PA271 (which I still enjoy using very much).
Much joy with your new monitor!
Larry