Both Canon A3100 IS and Panasonic ZS50 have 12.0 MP resolution sensors but Canon A3100 IS's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) and Panasonic ZS50's sensor is (1/2. ).
Since Canon A3100 IS's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Panasonic ZS50.
Below you can see the A3100 IS and ZS50 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Canon A3100 IS has a infx Larger sensor area than Panasonic ZS50. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.