- date_default_timezone_set: documentation ( source)
<?php
date_default_timezone_set('UTC');
$dt = new DateTime('2016-04-22 17:00:00', new DateTimeZone('America/Sao_Paulo'));
echo $dt->format("U: Y-m-d H:i:s T\n");
// Result:
// 1461355200 (PHP 5.6.19) -> 04/22/2016 20:00 (UTC)
// 1461344400 (PHP 7.0.5) -> 04/22/2016 17:00 (UTC)
$dt = new DateTime('2016-04-22 20:00:00', new DateTimeZone('UTC'));
$dt->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone('America/Sao_Paulo'));
echo $dt->format("U: Y-m-d H:i:s T\n");
// Result:
// 1461355200 (PHP 5.6.19) -> 04/22/2016 20:00 (UTC)
// 1461355200 (PHP 7.0.5) -> 04/22/2016 20:00 (UTC)