diff --git a/src/pymmcore_widgets/device_properties/_device_property_table.py b/src/pymmcore_widgets/device_properties/_device_property_table.py
index b26b6b692..84646a363 100644
--- a/src/pymmcore_widgets/device_properties/_device_property_table.py
+++ b/src/pymmcore_widgets/device_properties/_device_property_table.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 from pymmcore_plus import CMMCorePlus, DeviceProperty, DeviceType
 from qtpy.QtCore import Qt
-from qtpy.QtGui import QPalette
+from qtpy.QtGui import QColor
 from qtpy.QtWidgets import QAbstractScrollArea, QTableWidget, QTableWidgetItem, QWidget
 from superqt.fonticon import icon
 
@@ -124,18 +124,11 @@ def _rebuild_table(self) -> None:
         props = list(self._mmc.iterProperties(as_object=True))
         self.setRowCount(len(props))
 
-        # Retrieve the palette
-        palette = self.palette()  # This pulls the current theme colors
-
-        read_only_color = palette.color(QPalette.ColorRole.Dark)
-        pre_init_color = palette.color(QPalette.ColorRole.Dark).darker(130)
-
         for i, prop in enumerate(props):
             extra = " 🅿" if prop.isPreInit() else ""
             item = QTableWidgetItem(f"{prop.device}-{prop.name}{extra}")
             item.setData(self.PROP_ROLE, prop)
-            icon_string = ICONS.get(prop.deviceType())
-            if icon_string:
+            if icon_string := ICONS.get(prop.deviceType()):
                 item.setIcon(icon(icon_string, color="Gray"))
             self.setItem(i, 0, item)
 
@@ -157,75 +150,14 @@ def _rebuild_table(self) -> None:
                 wdg.setEnabled(False)
 
             if prop.isReadOnly():
-                item.setBackground(read_only_color)
-                wdg.setStyleSheet(
-                    f"QLabel {{ background-color : {read_only_color.name()} }}"
-                )
-
-            if prop.isPreInit():
-                item.setBackground(pre_init_color)
-                # set a placeholder item to then color the cell background
-                placeholder_item = QTableWidgetItem()
-                placeholder_item.setBackground(pre_init_color)
-                self.setItem(i, 1, placeholder_item)
-                # color the widget background
-                wdg.setStyleSheet(
-                    f"QWidget {{ background-color : {pre_init_color.name()} }}"
-                )
+                # TODO: make this more theme aware
+                item.setBackground(QColor("#AAA"))
+                wdg.setStyleSheet("QLabel { background-color : #AAA }")
 
         self.resizeColumnsToContents()
         self.setRowsCheckable(self._rows_checkable)
         # TODO: install eventFilter to prevent mouse wheel from scrolling sliders
 
-    # def _rebuild_table(self) -> None:
-    #     self.clearContents()
-    #     props = list(self._mmc.iterProperties(as_object=True))
-    #     self.setRowCount(len(props))
-    #     for i, prop in enumerate(props):
-    #         extra = " (pre-init)" if prop.isPreInit() else ""
-    #         item = QTableWidgetItem(f"{prop.device}-{prop.name}{extra}")
-    #         item.setData(self.PROP_ROLE, prop)
-    #         icon_string = ICONS.get(prop.deviceType())
-    #         if icon_string:
-    #             item.setIcon(icon(icon_string, color="Gray"))
-    #         self.setItem(i, 0, item)
-
-    #         try:
-    #             wdg = PropertyWidget(
-    #                 prop.device,
-    #                 prop.name,
-    #                 mmcore=self._mmc,
-    #                 connect_core=self._connect_core,
-    #             )
-    #         except Exception as e:
-    #             logger.error(
-    #                 f"Error creating widget for {prop.device}-{prop.name}: {e}"
-    #             )
-    #             continue
-
-    #         self.setCellWidget(i, 1, wdg)
-    #         if not self._prop_widgets_enabled:
-    #             wdg.setEnabled(False)
-
-    #         if prop.isReadOnly():
-    #             # TODO: make this more theme aware
-    #             item.setBackground(QColor("#AAA"))
-    #             wdg.setStyleSheet("QLabel { background-color : #AAA }")
-
-    #         if prop.isPreInit():
-    #             # TODO: make this more theme aware
-    #             item.setBackground(QColor("#dbdbdb"))
-    #             # set a placeholder item to then color the cell background
-    #             placeholder_item = QTableWidgetItem()
-    #             placeholder_item.setBackground(QColor("#dbdbdb"))
-    #             self.setItem(i, 1, placeholder_item)
-    #             # color the widget background
-    #             wdg.setStyleSheet("QWidget { background-color : #dbdbdb }")
-
-    #     self.resizeColumnsToContents()
-    #     self.setRowsCheckable(self._rows_checkable)
-    #     # TODO: install eventFilter to prevent mouse wheel from scrolling sliders
-
     def setReadOnlyDevicesVisible(self, visible: bool = True) -> None:
         """Set whether read-only devices are visible."""
         for row in range(self.rowCount()):