Genicom 3400e user manual Supported 2D Matrix Symbologies

	Appendix A— Specifications
Supported 2D Stacked Symbologies (continued)
Symbology	Description
Code 49	Code 49 is an alphanumeric symbology developed in 1987 as a means
	of labeling very small objects. A Code 49 bar code contains from two
	to eight adjacent rows, each separated by a one-module separator bar.
PDF417	PDF417 is a stacked 2D symbology that provides the ability to scan
	across rows of code. Each row consists of start/stop characters, row
	identifiers, and symbol characters (called “codewords”). Each
	codeword consists of four bars and four spaces and contain the actual
	data. In addition to being able to condense a large amount of
	information into the stacked format, PDF417 provides an extensive
	error detection and correction option. Up to 510 characters can be
	recovered if they are lost due to an error in scanning or if the label is
	damaged. PDF417 codes can be scanned with a laser scanner or
	imaging device that features 2D code scanning capability.

2D Matrix Symbologies

2D matrix symbologies, such as Maxicode, use both the horizontal and vertical axes to encode data even more efficiently than stacked symbologies. 2D matrix codes are created as a matrix of square elements, with each element being either white or black to encode data in a binary code. Extensive error detection and correction codes are appended to 2D matrix symbologies, often automatically.

2D matrix symbologies generally cannot be read with a laser scanner. Instead, they are read by a digital imager that captures the entire symbol at once instead of scanning each component individually. Since the components of 2D matrix symbologies are decoded after the image is captured, they permit very fast data collection.

Supported 2D Matrix Symbologies

Symbology	Description
Data Matrix	Data Matrix is a 2D matrix symbology that is made up of square
	modules arranged within a perimeter finder pattern. The finder pattern
	is a perimeter to the data region and is one module wide. Two adjacent
	sides are solid dark lines. These lines are used to define physical size,
	orientation, and symbol distortion.
Maxicode	Maxicode is a fixed-size symbology that is made up of offset rows of
	hexagonal elements arranged around a bull’s eye finder pattern. Each
	hexagon represents one bit of information and is either black or white
	depending on the state of the encoded data bit. United Parcel Service
	(UPS) Research and Development developed Maxicode for the specific
	purpose of encoding information about a parcel.
	This symbology only encodes very specific data that is divided into the
	following fields: a 5-digit zip code, a 4-digit zip code extension, a 3-
	digit country code, a 3-digit class of service, and a string of uppercase
	letters, numbers, or limited punctuation marks.

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