Every buyer knows that there is such a thing as a barcode. In the supermarket where we select products, these codes are present on the packages either in the form of stickers or in the form of a stamp made directly during production.
Barcode Scanner automatically reads this code using a laser beam, after which it is decrypted. Eventually automated system The cashier will know what product it is and how much it costs. And enters this data into your cash receipt.
A lot has already been said about how information in a barcode is encrypted. In the linear code we are used to, not much data is stored in the barcode. This is, in particular, data about the country of manufacture (the first three digits), about the manufacturer (the next 4 digits), data about the product (name of the product and its properties, such as size, weight, color) and a check digit that is used by the barcode scanner to check the reading is correct.
For example, the barcode code for Russia is 460, for Ukraine - 482, for the USA - from 00 to 09.
The country code is assigned by the International Association EAN. This is exactly what this code is called - EAN; there is also an American code - UNC, and other codes. But the first two are the most common.
For the country of the manufacturer, however, not everything is so simple. The fact is that in practice the country indicated on the packaging may not coincide with the one that corresponds to the code.
And this does not mean that the product is fake. Another country may be indicated in the code if: the manufacturing company received the code in another country; the product was manufactured at a subsidiary in another country; the product was manufactured under a license issued by a company from another country, etc.
Barcode Scanner It reads not the numbers themselves, but the strokes and the distances between them. All information here is encoded in binary system notation, the prime corresponds to one, the space to zero.
As you can see, not much information is stored in the linear code. It is easy to read, just run the scanner along the code. A beep from the scanner will mean that the information has been read and recognized. For control and confidence, numbers are used that are compared according to a certain algorithm with information obtained from strokes. As a result, it is achieved high level reliability and reliability of recognition.
In addition to stores, it is convenient to use barcoding and barcode scanners in the inventory of enterprise property. Instead of painting inventory numbers on tables, chairs or computers, you just need to generate a barcode using a special program, print and stick neat stickers in Right place. Such a barcode may contain information about the name of the product, its location and the code of the materially responsible person. All information is stored in the accounting system, and the inventory process is accelerated many times over.
QR codes
A few years ago, new barcodes began to spread: QR codes (QR stands for Quick Response, i.e. quick response). These are two-dimensional (matrix) codes in which much more information can be encoded, over the course of several pages!
At first they were intended for industry. To encode more complete information about objects. However, recently QR codes are increasingly becoming part of our everyday lives. They are especially common in Japan, but are becoming more and more famous in Europe, the USA, and Russia.
For example, such a QR code may contain information about the site address, geographic coordinates, encrypted text and even... encrypted pictures. A QR code can be on the packaging of a product, on an invoice, on a website, on a museum exhibit, or even on the wall of a house. And in Japan (the leader in the use of QR codes), QR codes are also used in cemeteries, containing information about the deceased.
Entrepreneurs will find it useful to use QR codes for printing on branded clothing, envelopes and letters, business cards, discount cards and much more. Today it is new, tomorrow it will become familiar and habitual, and the day after tomorrow it will become necessary.
To read and recognize a two-dimensional QR code, special barcode scanners are used. But the greatest impetus for the development of QR coding came from mobile devices. More precisely, special programs for reading and recognizing QR codes. Quite a lot of such programs have already been created today, for all popular OS mobile phones.
There are services on the Internet for creating your own QR codes (to search, type the query “create QR code” in Yandex). It’s easy to create a QR code using this service. try it yourself.
And in order to read information from a QR code you need to take just a few steps:
- take a mobile phone with a camera and special program;
- launch this program to scan the code;
- point the camera lens at the code and press “start”;
- get information.
The photographed QR code can be saved in memory as a picture. You can do the same with a QR code, which you will create using any of the QR code creation services. For example, below is a real example of a QR code that encrypts information about this article.
Before we get into how-tos, we want to introduce you to technical characteristics QR codes. In this chapter, you will learn how a two-dimensional barcode works and works, what parts it consists of, and what conditions are necessary to create and read it.
What is a QR code?
A QR code is a two-dimensional version of the regular barcode found on grocery packaging in the supermarket. Initially, QR codes were used to optimize logistics processes in the automotive industry, but due to the widespread use of smartphones, they have also found their application in marketing. "QR" stands for "Quick Response" and symbolizes instant access to information stored in the code.
QR codes are so popular because they are open technologies, i.e. available to everyone. Significant advantages compared to conventional barcodes are higher information capacity and resistance to damage.
At first glance, the black and white pattern of squares appears to be composed randomly or like a puzzle. But if you look more closely, you can notice certain patterns. In order for the scanner to recognize a QR code as such, the code image must be square. Many additional elements ensure correct reading of the code.
Indicates in which direction the code is printed.
If the QR code is large, these elements help the scanner navigate.
Using these lines, the scanner determines the size of the data matrix.
This part of the code contains the version number of the QR code being used. There are 40 versions of the codes, of which versions one through seven are commonly used for marketing purposes.
Contains information about the correction level and mask code and makes it easier to scan the code.
The space around the code is important so that the reader can distinguish the code from surrounding information.
What happens if the QR code is damaged?
To ensure that the information contained in the QR Code can be read even if it is damaged, the data keys include duplications (redundancies).Because of this, up to 30% of the Code structure can be destroyed without affecting the readability of the Code .
How much information can a QR code contain?
One code image can contain 7089 digits or 4296 letters of the Latin alphabet, including punctuation marks and Special symbols. In addition to numbers and letters, entire words and phrases (for example, Internet page addresses) are also encoded. The more data a code contains, the more its size increases, and the more complex its structure becomes.
How to create a QR code?
It only takes a few seconds to create a QR code. You can then select the type of code you want to create and enter your details. Click on the "Generate QR Code" button and your personal code is ready. Now all that remains is to decide in which file format to save the created QR code.
How to read a QR code?
In order to read the QR code, you need to install special application for smartphone. Big choice free programs Available in all app stores. After installing the application, launch it and point your smartphone camera at the QR code to scan. If the code can be deciphered, the Internet address or other content will appear on the screen automatically.
Strange squares appear on business cards, magazine pages, clothes, posters and even on hygiene products. Wild imagination suggests the most extraordinary options for assigning such an encoding. But this is not a message from aliens or a method of zombification, but a way of transmitting information.
A two-dimensional bar code (QR) can only be recognized by special software.
“The first time I came across such codes was when I started washing my favorite sports jacket. Suddenly on the lining I see a small square with even smaller squares of completely unclear purpose. The son explained what it is called and why it is needed. It turned out that the address of the website of a manufacturer of goods for an active lifestyle was encrypted there,” said SG reader Lyudmila Novoseltseva, who asked to tell Sevastopol residents about this.
The main advantage of a QR code is that it can be easily recognized by a mobile phone camera. Using such a small square, you can encode any information, for example: text, phone number, link to a website or business card. This is especially convenient, since it is inconvenient to enter long addresses of website pages with your fingers on the keys, but by scanning the code, you can do this in a few moments.
The method of use is very simple: take a mobile phone with a camera, run the code scanning program (you need to download it from the Internet first), point the camera lens at the code and read the message on the phone screen! This is such a fun game of “Message to Posterity.”
The maximum number of characters that can be placed in one QR code: numbers - 7089, numbers and letters (including Cyrillic) - 4296, binary code - 2953 bytes, hieroglyphs - 1817. In Lviv, for example, the association of businessmen "Tourist Movement of Lviv" posted a QR -codes for more than 80 tourist sites. This makes it possible for a tourist who does not know the Ukrainian language, but has a phone with a camera, to easily navigate the city. QR codes are installed in several languages especially for foreigners.
Designed by this matrix code by the Japanese company Denso-Wave in 1994. Now such squares are applied to almost all goods sold in stores, they are placed in advertising booklets and directories of the Land of the Rising Sun. They even organize various competitions and role-playing games using a QR code.
It was here that at one time barcodes were so popular that the amount of information encrypted in the code soon ceased to suit the industry. The Japanese began experimenting with new ways of encoding small amounts of information in a graphic image. Already at the beginning of the 21st century, QR codes became widespread. By the way, leading Japanese operators mobile communications jointly release under their own brand Cell phones with built-in support for QR code recognition. And even in cemeteries they use encrypted information about the deceased.
Reference
In the Russian language, the word “bar code” appeared thanks to the British. The verb bar in one of its meanings is translated as “to mottle with stripes, to lattice.” The abbreviation QR is derived from the English quick response, which translates as “quick response”.
By the way
You can create your own QR code using online generators: