Wonky Exposure?

[Vonpeter]

Hi. Can someone please help. I have a new Canon powershot I thought was superb. Lately I have been using Aperture Priority to control my depth of field (something I was used to with my old Minolta XGM 25 years ago!). I notice that when turn to AUTO, the picture is far better - colours richer, etc. So I decided to experiment. I notice under Auto what time exposure it is and also what aperture it is. I then set it on Aperture Priority, making sure it is the same time. With some shots the time is different, for the same scene obviously, with others the same. But the quality is worse. What does the Auto setting do? Pls email me at vonjazz@hotmail.com if you have the answer

[OsmosisStudios]

You've likely got some exposure compensation set to something other than 0.