Industrial Scanner Product Reference Guide

Glossary
GL-13
Scanner An electronic device used to scan bar code symbols
and produce a digitized pattern that corresponds to
the bars and spaces of the symbol. Its three main
components are:
1. Light source (laser or photoelectric cell) -
illuminates a bar code.
2. Photodetector - registers the difference in reflected
light (more light reflected from spaces).
3. Signal conditioning circuit - transforms optical
detector output into a digitized bar pattern.
Scanning Mode The scanner is energized, programmed, and ready to
read a bar code.
Scanning Sequence A method of programming or configuring parameters
for a bar code reading system by scanning bar code
menus.
Self-Checking Code A symbology that uses a checking algorithm to detect
encoding errors within the characters of a bar code
symbol.
Skew Rotation of a bar code symbol on an axis parallel to
the symbol's length.
Space The lighter element of a bar code formed by the
background between bars.
Space Width The thickness of a space measured from the edge
closest to the symbol start character to the trailing
edge of the same space.
Specular Reflection The mirror-like direct reflection of light from a
surface, which can cause difficulty decoding a bar
code.
Stacked Symbol (2D Symbols) A 2-dimensional (2D) symbol with sequences of
linear (width-coded) data that are stacked one upon
another (i.e., PDF417).
Start/Stop Character A pattern of bars and spaces that provides the scanner
with start and stop reading instructions and scanning
direction. The start and stop characters are normally
to the left and right margins of a horizontal code.
Substrate A foundation material on which a substance or image
is placed.