Barcodes are present everywhere be it on food items, shoes, computers, mobile phones or even water bottles. They have made stock taking, selling and many other tasks much easier. Instead of having to type the code, a person can just scan the barcode on an item and get its details in the computer. Doing so increases efficiency and productivity in an organization. Many business owners prefer to use barcode as they can have easy access to the information regarding their inventory and other details. Not only do items make use of barcodes but some countries even put barcodes on identification cards of their citizens. A single scan of the barcode and all the information about an individual can be retrieved. To understand how barcode equipment work, we first need to understand what barcode is.
Barcodes have been around for a few decades now. The most common variation of barcodes is those of vertical lines that have varying width and spacing between them. Each specific item in an inventory or store would have a unique barcode for itself. How the lines are placed is important as it contains data which can be scanned and extracted using barcode equipment. People normally tend to form misconceptions that the barcode only contains the price of the item. However it also contains information such as date of manufacture of the product, country of origin and the expiry date.
Many different types of scanners have been manufactured to be able to decode the information in barcodes. The most common are the pen readers, laser scanners, CCD scanners and camera based readers. Amongst these types of scanners, the most common is the laser scanner. The laser scanner would let out a laser onto the barcode and by measuring the reflected light, the barcode is decoded. Pen type readers work in a similar way as laser scanners. Their only difference is that the user has to manually move the reader across the barcode at a uniform speed. The laser scanner however can scan a code from as far as thirty feet away. The CCD reader has hundreds of tiny light sensors that are lined up in a row in the head of the reader. When the light is scanned upon a barcode, the sensors would measure the intensity of the light that is in front of it. As barcodes are black and white lines, the two colors would absorb light differently. Due to this, the reader is able to decipher the barcode. These readers work in a similar way to laser and pen readers. The difference between CCD readers and other tow readers is that the former measure the intensity of the light whereas the latter measure the amount of light reflected back.
A new generation of codes was developed in the recent years known as the QR code. This form of code is not found on items for sale but instead commonly used in the advertising industry. People can download an application into their phones that is able to read these codes. All they have to do is use their phone camera to take a picture of the code and once scanned, the application would open up a browser taking the person to the site of that advertisement. The use of barcodes have definitely revolutionized product purchasing, stock taking, advertising and even storing data of individuals more efficient.
Barcodes have been around for a few decades now. The most common variation of barcodes is those of vertical lines that have varying width and spacing between them. Each specific item in an inventory or store would have a unique barcode for itself. How the lines are placed is important as it contains data which can be scanned and extracted using barcode equipment. People normally tend to form misconceptions that the barcode only contains the price of the item. However it also contains information such as date of manufacture of the product, country of origin and the expiry date.
Many different types of scanners have been manufactured to be able to decode the information in barcodes. The most common are the pen readers, laser scanners, CCD scanners and camera based readers. Amongst these types of scanners, the most common is the laser scanner. The laser scanner would let out a laser onto the barcode and by measuring the reflected light, the barcode is decoded. Pen type readers work in a similar way as laser scanners. Their only difference is that the user has to manually move the reader across the barcode at a uniform speed. The laser scanner however can scan a code from as far as thirty feet away. The CCD reader has hundreds of tiny light sensors that are lined up in a row in the head of the reader. When the light is scanned upon a barcode, the sensors would measure the intensity of the light that is in front of it. As barcodes are black and white lines, the two colors would absorb light differently. Due to this, the reader is able to decipher the barcode. These readers work in a similar way to laser and pen readers. The difference between CCD readers and other tow readers is that the former measure the intensity of the light whereas the latter measure the amount of light reflected back.
A new generation of codes was developed in the recent years known as the QR code. This form of code is not found on items for sale but instead commonly used in the advertising industry. People can download an application into their phones that is able to read these codes. All they have to do is use their phone camera to take a picture of the code and once scanned, the application would open up a browser taking the person to the site of that advertisement. The use of barcodes have definitely revolutionized product purchasing, stock taking, advertising and even storing data of individuals more efficient.
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