Ubuntu :: Panel Looks Crap If Not Default Size?

I usually change the default bottom panel settings so that I have it on the right hand edge of the screen, 100 pixels wide and auto hide checked. Until now, this has been fine, but with ubuntu 10.4, it has an awful banded look.

So, I tried using a solid colour and a custom background image and although this improves matters, there is still a banded section at the top that should not be there. When you have a few apps running, the taskbar shows the active app normally, but the background apps are banded again. Is there a way to fix this? It also makes the apps difficult to read.