You can get the displays in a bunch of different colours and they are pretty cheap, IIRC they also work in a Quadverb
. The last one MJMP sent me to try worked fine (character set compatible, easy install (be careful of the ribbon cable the screen loom goes under, easy to knock it/dislodge it). Apart from that there's just one solder connection.
@Van, the screen in my original MP-2 is like you describe, over time you need to be more and more front on to it to read it and it gets a bit fainter, I only notice when I want to change a patch (which is rare in that one..)