The Different Barcode Symbologies and The Best One For Your Business

Barcodes are printed identification labels comprising a pattern of black bars and spaces. Different sets of these patterns combine to form a symbology. Barcodes may all appear to be the same but a closer look reveals that there are minute differences in the length and width of bars. A symbology is similar to a language except that it pertains to barcodes, and there are at least a hundred different barcode symbologies. It is part of the mapping between messages and barcodes. Each symbology of barcodes has its own unique characteristics and features, which have distinct technical advantages. Symbologies are selected on the basis of these advantages and are often specified by the company using barcodes. Selection of barcode symbologies is dependent on a set of features including the following:

1. Set of Symbols: Symbologies have a limited character set for encoding. For instance, Code 128 includes the entire ASCII character set while UPC includes only numeric strings up to a maximum of 11 digits.

2. Meeting Prescribed Standards: Barcodes have to meet the standards set by the industrial committee monitoring barcodes. For example, the Standards Committee in the case of the UPC symbology has fixed product and manufacturer codes for a million products and has also imposed limitations on their usage. Manufacturers are expected to adhere to these standards.

3. Readability of barcodes varies with some barcodes being more easily readable than others. Readability is beneficial for barcodes to be universally acceptable.

4. Barcodes that are more readable are also found to be more durable. Durability is a desirable quality in barcodes for greater acceptability.

5. Compatibility of barcodes with other companies that work together is important to ease operations.

Some of the most well known symbologies include Code 128, Code 39, UPC, Extended Code 39, UCC 128, Codabar, MSI, EAN and so on. These however, are one dimensional or linear barcode symbologies. 2D barcode symbologies help in storing larger amounts of data on one barcode since it is done in two dimensions. Examples of 2 D barcode symbologies include Datamatrix Code, MaxiCode and PDF 417.

Listed below are some details about each of the commonly used symbologies.

Code 39

Code 39 is one of the most common symbologies used extensively in the fields of inventory, tracking, labeling and identification. It is universally acceptable and can be deciphered by most scanners. Code 39 includes numeric characters and uppercase alphabets, which can be strung into barcodes of various sizes and has a self-checking mechanism.

UPC Codes

UPC barcodes are extremely popular in the retail segment all over the world. UPC barcodes include numeric characters and when scanned, the data about the product is extracted from the database that is updated constantly with prices, stocks etc. Thus it does not store too much data in the barcode.

Code 128

Code 128 is meant for shipping labels, which require compact but high-density symbols. It generates alphanumeric codes of variable length, and spaces are included with the characters, and a check character assists in checking the barcode.

2D Barcodes

2D Barcodes enhance the information storage capacity of a barcode, and have a higher density than a linear dimensional barcode. Though expensive, they can store vast amounts of data that does not need to be extracted from databases each time the barcode is scanned. They can encode fingerprints, other biometric characters and photos along with alphanumeric characters. 2D barcodes can be read only with special scanners.

Thus barcode symbologies help in decoding the data that is encoded by barcodes through the use of scanners. Each symbology has its own unique features and technical specifications along with a very specific area of usage. There are scores of symbologies used all over the world.

With the wide and varied amount of barcode symbologies that are available today, the choices can be a little bewildering. The most common and widely used of the barcode symbologies are code 39 and code 128. Luckily nearly every barcode label printer and scanner produced today has the ability to print and read each of these code. If you are looking for a scanner the LS2208 is widely available cheap and versatile.