What role does mb_convert_encoding play in resolving issues with special characters and encoding in PHP?

Special characters and encoding issues can arise when dealing with different character sets in PHP. The mb_convert_encoding function can be used to convert strings from one encoding to another, helping to resolve problems with special characters and encoding inconsistencies.

// Example of using mb_convert_encoding to convert a string from one encoding to another
$string = "H\u00e9llo, w\u00f6rld!"; // String with special characters
$converted_string = mb_convert_encoding($string, 'UTF-8', 'UTF-16'); // Convert from UTF-16 to UTF-8
echo $converted_string; // Output: "Héllo, wörld!"