I've got the brightness turned all the way up and it doesn't really help.
I've got no problems with the layout, it's great, but in many cases you just can't see it. Yes, it's a contrast problem and I think the only way you could solve the problem is if you had a white background with the readouts in black.
Second for me is my old eyes. I wear 150 reading glasses and sitting on the bike without glasses, I can't really make out the number on the speedometer. One would think that BMW would be aware of the demographics of those who purchase certain bikes and say to themselves that since most of the guys buying RTs are older, it might be a good idea to at least do what we can to make the numbers larger. For a long time I would just look at the needle position and guesstimate my speed.
Recently I went an purchased some progressive lenses, and once I got used to them, they work excellent. I can see the speedometer and tach and even the digital readout is much clearer.
So that might be a temporary solution for some.