Barcode

A barcode uses lines to show info.

It has thin and thick lines. A machine reads the lines very fast. This helps stores sell things.

Some codes use dots or shapes instead. A phone camera can read these too. People use them at the store. They help us buy food fast. Do you see them at the shop?

A barcode is a way to show data with shapes.

Most barcodes use thin and thick parallel lines. We call these 1D barcodes. A machine called a scanner reads them. Later, people made 2D barcodes. These use dots or hexagons instead of lines. A smartphone camera can read 2D codes too.

Two men, Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, invented the barcode. They got a patent for it in 1952. Woodland got his ideas from Morse code. He even made a code using sand on a beach! He turned dots and dashes into lines.

At first, barcodes were not used in stores. One early system used colored stripes on train cars. This was called KarTrak. It did not work well because dirt made it hard to read. Barcodes became very successful in supermarkets. In 1974, a pack of gum was the first UPC to be scanned. The UPC is a special kind of 1D barcode. It uses vertical bars that are easy to print.

A barcode is a clever way to show data using visual symbols.

These symbols help machines read information very quickly. Most barcodes are one-dimensional, or 1D. They use parallel lines of different widths and spacings. Other types are two-dimensional, or 2D. These use patterns like dots, hexagons, or rectangles.

You might see 2D codes on a smartphone screen. A digital camera can take a photo of them. Then, special software analyzes the image to decode the data. This makes it easy to identify objects instantly.

How does a barcode reader actually work?

For 1D codes, an optical scanner reads the lines. Early machines used a bright light bulb. The light shines through the paper onto a sensor. This sensor is called a photomultiplier tube. For 2D codes, purpose-built scanners are used. A smartphone can also act as a reader. It uses its built-in camera and special apps. The software looks at the pattern to find the hidden data.

Two men invented the barcode many years ago. Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver worked on it together. They filed a patent for their idea in 1949. The patent was finally issued in 1952.

Woodland got his inspiration from Morse code. He even practiced by making lines in the sand on a beach! He turned the dots and dashes into thin and thick bars. He also tried making a circular code. He thought a circle would be easier to scan from any direction. It took over twenty years to become a big success.

There are many important dates and names in barcode history.

In 1967, the KarTrak system was used on North American railroads. It used colored stripes on steel plates to identify cars. However, dirt made the system unreliable, so it was abandoned. In 1973, George Laurer developed a better vertical bar design. This design was chosen as the standard for groceries. In June 1974, a pack of Wrigley's gum was scanned in Ohio. This was the first commercial use of the Universal Product Code, or UPC.

Today, barcodes are part of our everyday lives. You see them almost every time you go to a supermarket.

They help checkout systems work much faster. This process is called automatic identification and data capture, or AIDC. We also see 2D codes, like QR codes, on many things. These became very popular in the 2000s because of smartphones. Barcodes are simple and low in cost to make. This helps them stay useful even as new technology arrives.

A barcode is a method of representing data through a visual, machine-readable symbolic form.

This technology allows machines to capture and process information automatically. This field of technology is known as automatic identification and data capture, or AIDC. Barcodes are essential for modern logistics and retail because they are simple and low in cost. They allow for the rapid tracking of products and equipment across the globe.

There are two primary types of barcodes: one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D). 1D barcodes, often called linear barcodes, use parallel lines of varying widths and spacings to represent data.

These are scanned by optical scanners known as barcode readers. 2D barcodes, or matrix codes, use different patterns like dots, hexagons, or rectangles.

While 1D codes use bars, 2D codes do not use traditional bars. 2D codes can be read by purpose-built optical scanners or by digital cameras. A smartphone can function as a 2D reader using specialized application software to analyze photographic images.

The mechanism for reading these codes has evolved significantly over time. Early 1D scanners used a 500-watt incandescent light bulb. The light would shine through the paper onto a photomultiplier tube, which is a type of sensor. Later, companies like Computer Identics Corporation improved this by using helium–neon lasers. They also added mirrors to the systems. This allowed scanners to locate a barcode up to one meter in front of the device. These improvements made scanning much more reliable and helped machines read damaged labels by focusing on intact portions.

The history of the barcode began with Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver. In 1948, Bernard Silver overheard a request for an automatic checkout system at a food chain. He and Woodland began researching various systems together. Woodland found inspiration in Morse code. He imagined extending the dots and dashes into narrow and wide lines. He even practiced his ideas by drawing them in the sand on a beach. They filed a patent application in 1949, and it was officially issued in 1952.

Before the modern supermarket barcode, other identification systems were tested. In the late 1960s, the Association of American Railroads used a system called KarTrak ACI. Developed by GTE, this system used colored stripes on steel plates attached to railroad cars. These plates encoded information like ownership and equipment type. The system was selected as a standard in 1967, and 95% of the fleet was labeled by 1974. However, the system was abandoned in the late 1970s because it was unreliable. Dirt and grime often fooled the scanners, making the data inaccurate.

The barcode became a commercial success through the grocery industry. In 1973, the Uniform Grocery Product Code Council chose a design by George Laurer. Laurer's design used vertical bars, which printed better than the circular "bullseye" patterns previously used. The first successful supermarket system was used by Sainsbury's in the UK in 1972. The first commercial use of the Universal Product Code (UPC) occurred in June 1974. A pack of Wrigley's chewing gum was scanned at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio. This event marked the beginning of widespread barcode use in retail.

Today, barcodes connect to many different technologies and systems. While barcodes remain dominant due to their low cost, other systems like radio-frequency identification (RFID) have emerged. In the second decade of the 2000s, QR codes became very popular. This rise in popularity was driven by the widespread ownership of smartphones. Barcodes continue to be a fundamental part of the AIDC market, serving everything from pet food inventory to medical identification.