eddie,
it would be unusual if the display did not sit on conductive rubber strips, most lcd displays work that way,
over time they get contaminated from airborn crud,
all it takes is a slight bit of resistance and the polarising angle of the segment changes, sometime the bad segments can look ok when you tilt the display to a different angle,
if you can get at the screen look to see if its sat on rubber,
if it is, clean both edges of the rubber, the glass where the rubber makes contact and the contacts on the board with alcohol, then reassemble without touching the contact parts with your fingers,
if its not sat on rubber strips you are unlucky,
doc correct? surely not, let me go look at this, i don't believe it lolol
good luck.
