ASP Microcomputers - A Powerful and Important Barcode Scanner Uses Surprisingly Simple Technology

A Powerful and Important Barcode Scanner Uses Surprisingly Simple Technology

For a technology that does so much to make our lives easier, barcode scanner technology is relatively simple. First, let’s talk about the making our lives easier part. Think about it. Can you define any part of your daily life that is not affected by barcodes? Your car has one. Your pantry and refrigerator have dozens of them. Your TV has one, as does every other piece of electronics that you have at your home or office. And those are just the barcodes that you can see.

It's a pretty good bet that each and every one of the items and products around you was shipped. It had a box or it was loaded on a pallet. Along the way it was stamped with a barcode or a sticker was plopped on. As the item made it's way from distribution point to distribution point it was passed through some sort of barcode scanner. The scanner kept track of it all the way until it made it's way to your hands. This scenario is repeated millions of times a day all over the world. That's pretty significant.

It is the job of the lighting system to provide enough illumination so that the sensor can read the data. LED lights or lasers are used for this. If the barcode scanner is the pen type, then the pen will have to be run across the barcode in order to illuminate and read the data. Some scanners have multiple LED lights that can read more than one point on the barcode at a time. When a laser is used, it is compressed so it can fan out and illuminate and read the barcode.

Laser illumination systems have quickly become popular because they can read the barcode from a further distance than is possible with LED. The power of the laser can be increased and at the same time the distance needed to accept the information lengthened. Full imagers that take advantage of LED lights can also be made powerful enough to compete with lasers for distance and focus.

Once the photo sensor has detected the light that is created by the lighting system, the voltage fluctuates. It is this fluctuation that indicates the size and color of the bar in the barcode. Depending on whether white or black is detected, the voltage wave takes shape. At this point the signal is still in analog form. The converter in the barcode scanner changes the signal to digital and sends it to the decoder. The decoder then transmits the information to a computer. Once the computer receives the data, it is put to work in a database that houses the information relevant to the product. The end user of the data can then manipulate the database to their specific needs.

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A Powerful and Important Barcode Scanner Uses Surprisingly Simple Technology

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