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A black diamond containing a white question mark.
Also known as: U+FFFD, Unknown character, Encoding error character, Question mark in a diamond
The replacement character stands in for data that could not be decoded, and seeing it means the encoding is wrong rather than the character being missing. It is distinct from the empty box shown for a character the font lacks, which is a different failure.
Denotes data that could not be decoded in the expected encoding, standing in for an unrepresentable value.
Contexts: Software
Indicates an encoding failure rather than a missing glyph: a character the font cannot draw shows as an empty box or a hex code instead.
Contexts: Software
Is inserted by the decoding process rather than being present in the original data, so it cannot be recovered back to what it replaced.
Contexts: Software
A solid black diamond, a square standing on one corner, with a white question mark curve and dot centred within it.