Understanding Character Encoding and Representation

Introduction

• Purpose: Understanding how elements like words, numbers, and emojis are represented on digital screens from 256 possible values.
• Importance: Character encoding is crucial for converting binary data into human-readable form.

What is Character Encoding?

• Definition: Assigns binary values to characters for human readability.
• Functionality: Acts as a dictionary for computers to map binary values to human characters.

ASCII - The Oldest Encoding Standard

• ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
• Components: Represents English alphabet, digits, and punctuation.
• Example: The binary for lowercase 'a' is 01100001.
• Limitation: Uses 127 out of 256 possible values but eventually inadequate for global use.

Evolution to UTF-8

• Reason for Change: Need to represent more characters including those from other languages and emojis.
• UTF-8 Overview:
  • Most common encoding standard today.
  • Incorporates the ASCII table.
  • Utilizes a variable number of bytes per character.
• Unicode Standard: Underpins UTF-8, ensuring consistent character representation.

Representation of Emojis

• Challenge: Single byte insufficient for emojis.
• Solution: UTF-8 allows multiple bytes for a single character.

Representing Colors with RGB

• Basic Color Model: RGB (Red, Green, Blue) used in computers.
• Functionality:
  • Each color is represented by a character indicating its shade.
  • Combination of RGB values produces various colors.
• Significance: Fundamental for color display on screens.

Conclusion

• Scope of Encoding: With binary combinations, everything from letters to videos is represented digitally.
• Impact: Enables the complex digital interactions we engage with daily.