Electronic digital odometer hard to read (99 SL2)

This is my second Saturn, but the first with an electronic digital odometer.
I don't like that too much: it's difficult to read in the daytime, except in
full sunlight, and impossible at night. Turning up the instrument panel
lighting has no effect. Is this thing *supposed* to be this hard to read??

 

My '01 lw300 has the electronic odometer and is rather easy to read both day
and night. I think it is a backlit LCD though looks very much like an orange
LED display.

Sounds like something in the backlight may have failed on yours.

 

Exactly-- replace the bulb, solve the problem.

 

You would hope it to be a simple bulb but the dash functions particularly
are more and more, embedded LEDs. For that matter on many cars, I have spent
close to an hour just trying to get access to a burried lamp to replace it.
Not fun.
Oppie