I learned on vX so I am not sure.
here is what I would try...
Do you have the STYLE tab onm the CT Expert? If so pick a few of the styels and see if there are any that have the background set the way you want. IT will be on too any cells but it will confirm that it is possible. If it is chaneg the format to this custom option and start looking at the various properties to see where to turn the vlaues off or on.
Sorry I can'r answer better than that but hopefully it will help.
Maybe someone else that has used vIX can chime in also...