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Background Information
General Bar Code Information
Bar code technology allows you to get information into a computer much more accurately than keying. Quick Check 600/800 Verifiers measure the quality of the bar code symbols to ensure the proper information is encoded and can be read. This instrument is both a quick,
Bar code symbols consist of a series of parallel, adjacent bars and spaces. Data is encoded in the width patterns of the symbol. These patterns, when interfaced with computer software, provide a large amount of information. Bar code systems offer a high degree of confidence that data entry is accurate. The substitution error rate, the rate at which a character may contain an error, is very low. The first read rate, the probability (percentage) that an attempt to input data will result in data being captured on the first attempt, is very high.
Bar code technology dates back to the 1960s and early 1970s, but did not come into widespread use as we know it today until the later 1970s. Retail applications, primarily grocery stores, saw the need for automatic identification technology and pushed development ahead. As many other industries began to take advantage of bar code technology, they often needed to develop their own symbology, or type of bar code, with unique specifications and standards.
Depending on the data that needs to be recorded, several different symbologies can be used. Communication cannot occur unless the reading and printing tools use a compatible symbology.
The symbologies tested by the verifier include:
• | EAN/UPC | • | Codabar |
• | Code 39 | • | Code 11 |
• Interleaved 2 of 5 | • | Code 16K | |
• | Code 128 | • | Code 49 |
• | Code 93 | • | MSI Code |
Quick Check® 600/800 Series User’s Guide | 6 - 1 |
