Vince, the problem is your players and TVs are probably showing different levels. So you are not comparing Apples with Apples. In my experience most TVs show the limited or Studio RGB range but of course if you play around with Brightness, Contrast, Backlight etc the results will be different.
With your pc check your graphic properties. Is it set to show videos with Full or Limited (Studio) RGB range. Is it set to allow players to use their own settings or not (although I’ve found players can sometimes override this). Check whether your players give an option to set the full 0-255 or limited 16-235 range. Only when you have all your equipment showing the same range can you do a comparison.