Why are my R G and B panes inconsistant with the main pane? (PS7)

Question

I'm using Photoshop 7. When I make an RGB image and draw something using grays only, I'd expect the indivdual color panes to look the same as each other and the same as the main RGB pane. But while they look the same as each other, they don't look the same as the main RGB pane. What's going on here? The RGB color profile is set to Monitor RGB, so it won't differe from my monitor, and the Gray color profile is set to Gamma 2.2, which I heard is the default gamma for Windows computers. I set all color profile handling to "off", so it should just behave like a fancy drawing program with lots of effects I can apply to images, but without the color profile mumbo jumbo (and a fancy drawing program is all I need it for as a hobbiest and a game sprite editor, as my intended output is ALWAYS my monitor and NEVER a paper print out). But I obviuously didn't manage to turn off ALL handling of color profiles, as the way it handles the color chanels when I draw in gray on an RGB image is proof. Normally at this point I'd give up and use something else and uninstall Photoshop, but it is easy to use and has some features that NO other program I've found does that actually come in handy while I'm editing ripped game sprites, ESPECIAIALLY its RGB to indexed color convertions (great for making my own 16 or 256 color sprites out of 24bit color images) and these RGB to indexed conversions (just by the options it presents for this conversion, and the color accuracy of the algorithms like Local Perceptual and Local Selective, and the rare ability to save as a 4bit BMP file) are FAR FAR FAR better than any other graphics program I've EVER used before. So I REALLY don't want to stop using it. However it REALLY is getting on anoying to have the R G and B chanels look different from the main RGB pane when I'm drawing only in shades of gray.
Any idea how to fix this?

Answer 1

J Maloney,
I'm not sure I understand your question/statement or what you are trying to achieve.
I just ran a little experiment (tell me if I am on the right track or whether I am completely missing your point, which is quite possible). I took an sRGB color image. I duplicated it so I had two identical sRGB images. One I converted to dot gain 20% using Relative Colorimetric with BPC on. The other was converted to Gray Gamma 2.2 with RC & BPC. Of course, the numbers changed, since a dot gain space is not the same as a gamma curve space, but the appearance is the same.
Then, I "selected all" and copied the 20% dot gain image and pasted it into a new sRGB document. I repeated the procedure for the gray gamma 2.2 image. This gave me two new sRGB images that are grayscale in appearance (fully desaturated).
All four images (whether dot gain 20%, gray gamma 2.2, or the two desaturated sRGB images look identical to me when switching back and forth from one to another. You can't "assign" from one mode to another (for example you can't assign a grayscale space to an RGB document). If you assign a different working space to your grayscale or RGB image, the numbers remain the same, but the appearance changes.
I have my "Color Settings" in Photoshop set to 20% dot gain, because I don't do a lot of grayscale internet work. Press work is more up my alley so I prefer to use dot gain. I also have all my color management policies set to Preserve Embedded Profiles. Maybe changing color settings will have some impact on the above scenario (I haven't tested that in ages, so I don't remember). I almost always convert (Edit > Convert to Profile) by selecting the exact profile and settings I want anyway instead of just using the "Mode" feature. That way, I know exactly what is going on and have control over the final outcome.
If I was doing a lot of B&W work for the internet, I'd probably set my gray working space in color settings to gray gamma 2.2, and use either sRGB or Adobe RGB, since they are both 2.2 gamma working spaces.
I'm rattling on, hoping I am understanding your question or statement.I'm not "jumping through any hoops" and all 4 of the above images have identical appearance. I must be misunderstanding something, or perhaps out color settings are different.