The WCAG2.0 and 1.0 guidelines both make reference to different equations on perception of color difference:
contrast ratio (http: //www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-WCAG20-20081211/Overview.html#contrast-ratiodef)
brigtness difference and 3. color difference (http://www.w3.org/TR/AERT#color-contrast).
I tried the Delta-e method(http: //colormine.org/delta-e-calculator/) but it is quasimetric so the difference measurement may change depending on the order you pass the two colors. If in your example you expect diff(a,b) to always equal diff(b,a) then this is not what you want(there may be different algorithms under this name that aren't quasimetric but I haven't looked into it past that site).
I think that the color difference metric is the closest to matching my expectations of color difference measurements. For your example it will yield that diff(a,b) > diff(c,d)
You can test it out for yourself using the tool at this website: http://www.dasplankton.de/ContrastA/