This is just theoretical as to what could happen if you weren't unable to change the contrast settings on a Sony Ericsson J220i. Of course there is a noticeable jumpcut as I needed to access another setting that doesn't allow the contrast of the phone to be changed.
Of course, if you get this phone, you may need to check to see if the settings that allows the contrast to be changed or not has been tampered with. If you're able to right out of the box, don't worry about anything.