I'm using Photoshop 6.

I've attached a screenshot that illustrates my problem. 

When I have a colour (on the right of the image) that I want to specify in the Photoshop Color Picker,  in this case a bright red ( HEX: #EB000F  RGB: 235, 0, 15 ) and I set the Colour Picker to display that colour, it displays another colour.

At the bottom of my attached image is a DigitalColor Meter reading of the colour in the Color Picker , which is a dull rust red instead of a bright red, and the color meter reads it's HEX value as HEX #C92A20 eventhough the Color Picker is set to display HEXEB000F.  When I sample the "Adventures In Hell" bright red image with the colour meter the meter gives me the correct reading,
HEX: #EB000F.

I don't know why the colour picker won't display the correct colour, and I don't know how to fix the problem.

Thanks!

I’m on a Windows XP based PC but I found your quarry of interest and decided to google for an answer hoping to help. In one article it explains that a big aperture setting takes an average of the color. A smaller aperture gives a more precise reading. Looking at your illustration it shows your aperture to be in the middle so I thought this might be a possibility.  

Upon searching further I came across a second article which may be of interest to you. It explains an inherent problem between Photoshop’s color management system and the OS’s. Just thought I’d post them for your perusal. On the second site you may want to get right to the point so you could start reading after the 8th paragraph where it says: “Why is this so difficult?”

mac tricks and tips

smashing magazine

Quote - ... a big aperture setting takes an average of the color. A smaller aperture gives a more precise reading.
... a second article which may be of interest to you. It explains an inherent problem between Photoshop’s color management system and the OS’s. Just thought I’d post them for your perusal. On the second site you may want to get right to the point so you could start reading after the 8th paragraph where it says: “Why is this so difficult?”

mac tricks and tips

smashing magazine

Thanks for the links!
You're right, the size of the aperture on the digital colour meter does effect the reading.  I've tried it small and large - both give me the wrong settings for the colour I want.

I'll take a look at the links you posted and see if I can use the information.

Quote -

smashing magazine

Quest - thank you for this Smashing Magazine link!  It's just the kind of information I was looking for.  I'm going to try what they suggest and see if it improves my colour results.