What means
The gaps reproduce a teletext graphics mode. Teletext, developed in the UK in the early 1970s, sent text and block pictures over analog TV. The 1974 Broadcast Teletext Specification describes six-cell mosaics in touching and separated styles; the latter leaves background gutters around lit cells. A control switched styles. A 2021 Unicode proposal says users later needed separate characters for emulators and existing software’s private-use slots, whose meanings are program-specific.
Don't confuse it with
4Questions people ask
1Why does show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type
Windows (Word)
Alt+XType 1CE8B, then Alt+X to get .
Windows
Win+Rrun charmap for the full table, or use the emoji picker's Ω symbols tab (Win + .).
macOS
Control+Command+SpaceOpen the character viewer and search “separated block sextant-12456”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 1ce8b, then Enter or Space.
HTML
𜺋CSS
\1CE8BHTML source
Write the HTML numeric character reference `𜺋`; a browser reads it as .
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
𜺋
HTML hex
𜺋
CSS content
content: "\1CE8B";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%F0%9C%BA%8B
1
On screen
1
Code points
2
JS .length
4
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.