Quiet Zone A clear space which precedes the start character of a symbol and follows the stop character.

Readers Equipment for scanning and decoding bar code symbols. See Scanner and Decoder.

Reflectance A measurement of the amount of light reflected by a bar code label and symbol.

Resolution The narrowest element dimension which can be sensed by a particular reading device or printed with a particular device or method.

Scanner An electronic device that produces an infra-red or visible light to register the widths and patterns of the bars and spaces and transmits this data to a decoder.

Self-Checking Code A bar code symbology whose symbols are designed to prevent a single printing defect from causing similar characters to be substituted for each other.

SER Substitution Error rate. The rate at which a character in a code is improperly substituted for another.

Space The lighter element of a bar code, usually formed by the background between bars.

Space Width The thickness of a space from its front edge (closest to the start character) to its rear edge.

Spot The undesirable presence of ink or dirt in a space.

Stacked Code Symbols Bar code symbols made up of linear bar codes printed in a rectangular shape to achieve the most efficient use of the label area.

Standard A set of rules, specifications, and instructions for using bar codes or other automatic identification systems.

Start and Stop Characters Bar code characters that provide the scanner with start and stop reading instructions as well as the scanning direction.

Substrate The surface on which a bar code symbol is printed.

Symbol A combination of characters in a bar code forming a complete, scannable entity.

Symbology A method for representing data in the bars and spaces of a bar code.

Thermal Transfer A printing system in which the print head applies heat to printer ribbons that transfer ink to a face stock to create a bar code symbol.

Throughput A measurement of print speed and formatting time.

Two-Dimensional Symbol A bar code symbology whose symbols are composed of rows of characters displayed in a rectangular or square pattern.

UCC Uniform Code Council. The organization which administers the UPC code and other retail standards, such as the Uniform Container Symbol (UCS) and the Universal Product Carton Code (UPCC)>

UPC Universal Product Code. The standard bar code symbology for the retail grocery industry.

USS Uniform Symbol Specification. The current series of symbology specifications published by AIM. See AIM.

Verifier A device that measures the bars, spaces, quiet zones, and optical characteristics of a bar code symbol to determine whether it meets the requirements of a specification or standard.

Vertical Symbol A bar code symbol displayed so that the bars and spaces resemble a ladder.

Void A light area in a bar due to printing errors.

Wet-Ink Printing techniques such as letterpress, offset, lithography, flexography, rotogravure, and inking wheels. The basic wet-ink technique is to create a photographic image or film master of the label, make a printing plate from the master, and apply ink to the plate to transfer the image to label facestock or the item itself.

WYSIWYG “What You See Is What You Get”. A type of software display that allows a bar code symbol to appear on the screen exactly as it will on the printed label.

Copyright:  Numeridex, Inc.  2008

Go To Page>   1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10    11