unicode transformation format 16 (UTF-16)
UnicodeTransformation Format 16(UTF-16) is a compromise between the byte-intensiveencoding UTF-32 and UTF-8 for the conversion of ASCII characters. With UTF-16, the characters are encoded with 2 bytes in the Double Byte Character Set( DBCS), whereby 2 bytes are sufficient for all characters of the Basic Multilingual Plane( BMP).
If the encodable character range of 65,536 characters is not sufficient, two additional 16-bit values can be used for characters beyond that. Character sets with more than two bytes belong to the Multibyte Character Sets( MBCS). An extension by 32 bits corresponds to sixteen additional 16-bit tarpaulins. Where one tarp represents a 16-bit code range. InISO terminology, the 32-bit range is divided into 256 groups of 256 planes and 256 rows of 256 characters. Each tarp includes special characters for music, font, speech symbols or other special characters.
For everyday use in conjunction with common languages, the "0" plane, called the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP), is sufficient. UTF-16, which is based on 16 bits, accommodates some operating programs such as various Windows versions that work with 16 bits.