decode_utf8 This attributes defaults to TRUE. While parsing, fields that are valid UTF-8, are automatically set to be UTF-8, so that $csv->parse ("\xC4\xA8\n"); results in PV("\304\250"\0) [UTF8 "\x{128}"] Sometimes it might not be a desired action. To prevent those upgrades, set this attribute to false, and the result will be PV("\304\250"\0)