A bad contrast ratio will always look very bad on older screen, making text hard to read. It is also hard to read by people with eyes issues.
"WCAG 2.0 level AA requires a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (14 point and bold or larger, or 18 point or larger). Level AAA requires a contrast ratio of 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text."
Try using #4c4c4c
You can use this tool to test. http://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/
A bad contrast ratio will always look very bad on older screen, making text hard to read. It is also hard to read by people with eyes issues.
"WCAG 2.0 level AA requires a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (14 point and bold or larger, or 18 point or larger). Level AAA requires a contrast ratio of 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text."