Setting the whole screen to inverse video might help make standout stand out better here. I understand your frustration. Televideo brain damage has been the bane of my existence for the past 12 years. This should be fixed easily enough. Here's a tvi950 termcap entry we use.
Usual disclaimers apply.
I recently got one. A tvi950 entry will do in a pinch. And termcap breaks if you try to put an explicit NUL in a capability.