Panel background goes black

[Bear Tooth]

I recently got a new flat panel monitor, the BenQ FP767, and have made a
lot of changes in /etc/X11/XF86Config -- but no others, except for
tweaking a couple of apps (Konqueror 3.1.15-RedHat and Opera 7.23) I've
also done a lot of logging out/in and rebooting. 

About the time I got the monitor more or less usable, I started noticing
that the panels come up with a black background, making the launchers hard
to see (especially since the monitor housing is deep black!), every time I
reboot -- and, I think, every time I log out and back in. (If that
matters, I'll gladly test it.)

What could be causing this, and what should I do about it?

-- 
Beartooth Autodidact, curmudgeonly codger learning linux
id est karhunhammas (at) lserv dot com (adelphia = spamtrap)
Keep in mind how little I know of what I'm talking about.