u/_in_another_world

So I've been going down this rabbit hole for the past two days and apparently there exists both software calibration and hardware calibration? What even is the real difference between these calibration techniques for displays? How much of an actual difference does this make? and why do people get so triggered about it?

I just figured all calibration used software, but apparently not lol. What am I missing here?
Explain it to me simply because I have two brain cells left today and they are fighting for third place.

Not trying to be provocative, genuinely asking because I can't get a straight answer.
I design and edit professionally and I've been doing it for about 2 years now. My clients are happy, I've never had a revision come back about colour, until recently. And I keep seeing people in these communities talk about how you can't grade properly without a proper reference display and I honestly can't tell if that's true or if it's the same energy as people who say you can't mix on headphones.
Is there an actual meaningful threshold where a better monitor changes your work? Or does it just make you feel better about your work?

So this is embarrassing to admit but I've been designing professionally for 2 years and I just got burned by something I should probably have known about. I sent over a brand identity last week. Client comes back saying the blues look almost purple on their end and the whole thing looks oversaturated. I pulled up a screenshare with them and I could literally see it - same file, completely different colours. I was mortified on the call. I've never calibrated my monitor. I didn't even know that was something designers were supposed to do. I just assumed what I see is what everyone sees. Is this a common problem? How many of you found out the hard way? And what did you actually change to fix it - I don't even know where to start and there dont seem to be enough resources online to understand.