What Are Handheld Barcode Readers And How Do They Work?
Barcode readers have been around a long time, they started life as punch card readers in 1930. The idea was to optimize the point of sale procedures. The first real barcode readers used ultraviolet ink, they appeared in approximately 1948.
The barcode readers of today use the technology of linear symbologies, these are optimized to be read by a CCD imager whose technology emerged in the 1990s and was pioneered by a man named Welch Allyn. The CCD imaging surpassed the standard which was laser scanning in the year 2007 and continues to grow in popularity because of not only it’s performance but because of it’s durability. The scanner directs a thin wide beam of light across the barcode, reading‘slice’ of the code’s light and dark patterns. The symbologies contained in the light and dark coding contain information that the scanner picks up and then sends to either the point of sale system or warehousing system, or whatever system and use the scanner is set up for.
Stacked symbologies are optimized for laser scanning as the laser makes multiple passes across the barcode. 2-D symbologies cannot be read by laser for the same reason stacked can; multiple sweeps. 2-D requires scanning by a CCD or charge coupled device or other digital camera sensor technology.
What this all means is that the laser technology is on its way out while the imaging technology is poised to take over completely.
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