Capturing the barcode information and sending it to the decoder are done by a device called a barcode scanner. Currently, there are four different types of barcode scanners available out there. They are pen barcode scanners, laser barcode scanners, CCD (Charge Couple Devices) barcode scanners and 2D barcode scanners. Let’s discover each of these types.
Pen barcode scanners
A pen barcode scanner consists of a LED light and a photodiode in the tip of a pen. To read a barcode, you drag this tip across all the bars. While the LED light illuminates the white and black bars, the photodiode measures the reflection of light and can determine color and width of each bar. This information is sent to the decoder for processing.
Because of being inexpensive, pen barcode scanners are suitable for a single user. However, the user needs to practice to perfect the scan.
Laser barcode scanners
Slightly more advanced than pen scanners, laser barcode scanners are capable of more exact light readings. They use laser beams as their light sources. Laser beams are shot at mirrors. These mirrors make movements so that these lasers sweep across barcodes in straight lines. These lights then reflect back to photodiodes, which measure the intensity of the light reflected back from the bar code.
CCD barcode scanners
A charge coupled device (CCD) uses an array of hundreds of tiny LED lights arranged in a row. A sensor measures the voltage of emitted ambient light from the bar code which provides a digital snapshot of the barcode.
2D barcode scanners
Some barcodes consist of white and black spaces in a two-dimensional (2D) target. These barcodes cannot be read by CCD barcode scanners or pen barcode scanners. Instead, 2D barcode scanners can do this. A 2D barcode scanner uses a small video camera to capture an image of a barcode which is then sent to software as a digital signal. This scanner consists of hundreds of tiny lights arranged in multiple rows.
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