Definitions for "Double-byte character set"
Keywords:  dbcs, mbcs, multibyte, korean, byte
n. A set of characters in which each character is represented by 2 bytes. Languages such as Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, which contain more symbols than can be represented by 256 code points, require double-byte character sets. Because each character requires 2 bytes, the typing, display, and printing of DBCS characters requires hardware and programs that support DBCS.
A character set that can be used to represent Far Eastern languages that use ideographic characters. Like a multibyte character set (MBCS), a DBCS contains both single- and double-byte characters. DBCS characters are addressed using two bytes. The DBCS single-byte characters conform to the 8-bit national standards for each country and correspond closely to the ASCII character set. See also lead byte, trail byte, Unicode.
character set encoded with two bytes per character. This term is generally used in contrast with SBCS and/or MBCS. Abbreviated as DBCS.