Have you adjusted the contrast? I found that when I first turned the unit on it was way too light. I adjusted the contrast and the screen is beautiful now It was simple too. Just press and hold both the menu and enter button in at the same time. While holding those two buttons in you can use the left curs. and right curs. to adjust the contrast. (you probably know this already though, considering you've had your unit much longer than I have. I wonder if they improved the screen contrast on the black model.

Squeak