Hi again,
About 'modes'. On some graphic ones you can 'invert' in software, which makes all 'on' pixels 'off' and all 'off' pixels 'on'. But theres still gaps between the pixels (showing the background) so its not truely negative. And I don't tihnk you can do that on a character LCD at all.
Heres a great link:
http://www.pacificdisplay.com/lcd_polarizers.htm
But its not a dumb question at all, you can 'invert' a display by replacing the polarizer with a new one and turning it 90 degrees to the original. That makes a positive to negative and visa-versa. But its VERY difficult and the chances of ruining your LCD are pretty high (not to mention getting hold of new polarizer film), so in your words, its a hardware thing
When the backlight is on, is your LCD like this?
1. **broken link removed**
Or this?
2.
**broken link removed**
Or is it black text on a blue background?
Both the above LCD's are 'negative mode', but the second one has a blue polarizer. That means it lets any 'blue' through the display regardless on whether a pixel is on or not,..(as opposed to blocking all light). But when a pixel IS on, it lets all colours through. Which means, with a 'white' backlight, ON pixels are white, and 'off' pixels are blue. The first one was true negative (FSTN), with a white backlight (looks bluish).
Sounds to me like you may have type 2, as they are quite common, but there are so many types these days. As for increasing contrast without the backlight? Don't think it can be done......not without turning on the backlight (or adding a front light).
Blueteeth.