Difference between "black only grayscale" and "high quality grayscale"

[ska49]

Color control offers me color, black only grayscale, and high quality grayscale. "Black only grayscale" is not familiar to me. I am accustomed to see "black and white" and the third choice on color printers.  What is the difference between the two grayscale options on the Envy 5055? Which uses more ink?

[Bob_Headrick · Accepted solution]

The "Black only grayscale" option uses the black cartridge uses only the black cartridge to print in grayscale.  The "High quality grayscale" uses the color cartridge to give better quality and finer distinctions of grayscale levels.  This is because the color ink droplets are much smaller than the black droplets, so using color to print black can result in sharper details and finer grayscale graduations. The overall ink usage is similar, but on a cost per page the "high quality grayscale" option is somewhat more costly since the black ink is typically less expensive than color.

Note that when printing on glossy photo paper the black ink will not be used as the pigmented black ink is not compatible with photo paper.