title: MySQL - Are there performance penalties with using UTF8 encoding in the connection string?
body: <p>Is there any performance issue associated with using UTF8 in the connection string when connecting to a MySQL database? (ex: using "charset=utf8" in ADO.NET or "useUnicode=yes&amp;characterEncoding=utf8" in JDBC)</p>
  
  <p>Assuming that the same setting can be used for different databases, will the be any conversion issues if the server database isn't configured to support UTF8?</p>
  
  <p>For example, I know that for SQL Server there are some hefty performance issues with table scans when parameters are sent as Unicode against a non-Unicode column (<a href="https://lostechies.com/jimmybogard/2012/07/18/troubleshooting-sql-index-performance-on-varchar-columns/" rel="nofollow">https://lostechies.com/jimmybogard/2012/07/18/troubleshooting-sql-index-performance-on-varchar-columns/</a>), and was wondering if there is something similar for MySQL.</p>