QR codes and 2D barcodes

by Chris Woodford. Last updated: September 1, 2018.

F
rom buying groceries to tracking a UPS delivery, barcodes make our lives easier
in all kinds of ways—but they've been doing so now for decades. Originally
patented in the 1940s, barcodes were commercially tested in the 1960s and
gradually became ubiquitous in the 1980s. The basic idea has barely changed in
all that time: just like in the 1960s, a barcode is still a zebra pattern of stripes with
numbers written underneath that needs a special scanning device to decode it. But all
that could change soon as the 2D barcode—a kind of second-generation barcode
technology—slowly takes over. Let's take a closer look at how it works!
Photo: Do-it-yourself postal systems, such as Royal Mail's SmartStamp® (in the UK) and Deutsche Post's
Stampit (in Germany), let you print your own franking labels on parcels without the bother of going to a post
office. They print a 2D barcode on the postage label to validate it and protect against fraud. The code is read
and checked when the mail passes through automated sorting equipment. This is an example of a data-matrix
code made from four separate segments.

What are 2D barcodes?

You might have already noticed odd black-and-white squares appearing on your parcels,
letters, utility bills, T-shirts, product packaging, and in all kinds of other places— a bit like
mini crossword puzzles without any letters. They're called two-dimensional (2D)
barcodes and, just like ordinary barcodes, they're machine-readable so they can quickly
pass on information about a product in the blink of an electronic eye. Where a barcode
presents a string of information as a one-dimensional line of black and white bars, a 2D
barcode packs a lot more information into a grid of black and white, square-shaped dots.

Photo: It's a great idea to turn your website address

(URL) into a QR Code® and put it on all your
promotional material—from advertisments and
leaflets to T-shirts and delivery vans. Here's a QR
Code being used to good effect on a promotional
leaflet from the Swanage Railway. If I want to find
out more, all I have to do is point my cellphone at
the leaflet and click. Be careful how you print the
code: although there's some tolerance for bad
printing, it still needs to be printed reasonably
clearly and accurately or it won't work. So crisp
laser printing is fine, but smudgy inkjet prints
probably aren't. Always test the final, printed code
with a QR Code reader to make sure it takes you
where it should!

What are the advantages of 2D barcodes?

If we already have barcodes, why do need something else as well? 2D barcodes are a
step further, with lots of advantages:
 More information: A barcode is just a short line of black and white bars so it can't
contain much information: typically just a dozen digits or so—enough to identify a
box of cornflakes to a grocery store checkout, but not much more. You can't add
extra information to a barcode without making it longer and more unwieldy. By
contrast, a 2D barcode is a square of information running in two directions so it
can efficiently pack more information into the same space. A typical 2D barcode
can represent up to about 2000 characters of information.
Fewer errors: Barcodes hold so little information that there is very
little redundancy. Apart from the length of the bars (which effectively repeat the
barcode's information in the vertical direction), there is no duplication of
information to guard against a code being misprinted or damaged (such as when
a grocery box becomes torn in the store or a parcel label smudges in the rain).
But the higher capacity of 2D barcodes means they can hold the same
information in different ways with sophisticated, built-in error checking systems. If
a code is damaged, that's easy to detect—and it may still be possible to read
some or all of the code.
Easier to read: 2D barcodes can be read by smartphones and tablet computers
using their built-in digital cameras. No special reading equipment is needed. Even
though they contain more information, they can be read accurately at high
speeds.
Easy to transmit: 2D barcodes can be sent as SMS text messages between
cellphones.
More secure: It's possible to encrypt the information in 2D barcodes to protect it.

What are the different kinds of 2D barcode

technology?
To an untrained eye, 2D barcodes all look much the same. Look more closely, though,
and you'll see they do vary quite a bit. There are actually several different types of 2D
barcode, some available in the public domain and some that are still proprietary.

Artwork: Five examples of this website's URL encoded wholly or partly in different 2D barcodes: 1) QR Code 2)
Aztec code 3) MaxiCode 4) Micro QR Code 5) PDF417.

Here are some of the best known (though there are literally dozens of others):

QR Code® (pioneered in the 1990s by Japanese company Denso-Wave), which

has several variations, including Micro QR Code (a smaller version that carries less
information), iQR Code (which can hold a lot more information), SQRC (which can
carry secure, encrypted data), and FrameQR (like a traditional QR Code but with a
recognizable image on top to make it easier for humans to use)
Aztec code (developed by Welch Allyn and recognizable by a distinctive square
"bulls-eye" pattern in the center)
MaxiCode (used by the US postal service, and featuring a round "bulls-eye"
center)
PDF417, which is more like a traditional barcode, but with data that extends
vertically as well as horizontally
Semacode

"Data-matrix code" is the name of the international (ISO) standards covering 2D

barcodes, but not all 2D barcodes comply with them (Semacode does; QR codes and
Aztec codes are slightly
different).

What

information does a QR code contain?

By their very nature, QR codes (and other data matrix codes) are
meant to be read by machines, not humans, so there's only a
certain amount we can tell just by looking at them. Although each
code is different, they contain a few interesting, common features.
Looking again at the explainthatstuff.com QR code up above, we
have:

Artwork: Above: Some of the key features in a QR code. Below: Features like this
ensure a code can be read at high speed even when it's viewed at an angle,
smudged, printed on a curved surface, or distorted in various other ways.

1. Quiet zone: An empty white border that makes it possible to

isolate the code from among other printed information (for
example, on a dirty envelope, among the black and white
print of a newspaper, or on smudged product packaging).
2. Finder patterns: Large black and white squares in three of
the corners make it easy to confirm that this is a QR code
(and not, say, an Aztec code). Since there are only three of
them, it's immediately obvious which way up the code is and
which angle it's pointing at (unless the code is partly
obscured or damaged in some way).
3. Alignment pattern: This ensures the code can be
deciphered even if it's distorted (viewed at an angle, printed
on a curved surface, and so on).
 4. Timing
pattern: This
runs
horizontally
and vertically
between the
three finder
patterns and
consists of
alternate
black and
white
squares. The
timing
pattern
makes it
easy to
identify the
individual
data cells
within a QR
code and is
especially
useful when
the code is
damaged or
distorted.
5. Version
information:
There are
various
different
versions of
the QR code
standard; the
version information (positioned near two of the finder
patterns) simply identifies which one is being used in a
particular code.
6. Data cells: Each individual black or white square that's not
part of one of the standard features (the timing, alignment,
and other patterns) contains some of the actual data in the
code.

Further reading

There are a number of other features and complications that I won't

go into here; if you'd like more detail, you'll find it by looking at
these two excellent references:

QR Code Tutorial: A very good explanation of how a QR

code works, in theory and practice. Includes detailed
examples showing how QR codes encode actual binary
data.
 QR Code by Tan Jin Soon, EPCglobal Singapore Council.
Synthesis Journal, 2008. A longer explanation of QR codes
and an excellent review of some typical applications [PDF
format, via the Wayback Machine].

What is 2D barcode technology used for?

Photo: Using an iPhone as a mobile airline boarding pass.
This is an app called MeeTicket that lets you store and
display airline boarding passes from different airlines.

Photo: A
data matrix
code
engraved
onto a
Space
Shuttle part.
Photo
courtesy of
NASA.

The
American
space
agency
NASA
was one
of the
earliest

organizations to make widespread use of data

matrix codes, in the mid-1980s: it engraved them onto parts from space rockets, such as
the Space Shuttle, because they didn't come off, like paper labels, and could store so
much more information.

You can put a 2D barcode anywhere you can put a barcode (software for generating
codes is easy to find online) and use it in very similar ways for tracking and tracing all
kinds of objects. Cellphones with built-in 2D barcode readers are leading to other, more
exciting applications. Advertisers who want you to find out more about their products
online simply print a 2D barcode in the corner of their ads. Just point your cellphone at
the code, scan it in, and your phone browser will automatically read the code, decode the
Web address of the advertiser's site, and take you there instantly—no need to type in a
tedious URL (website address) or anything like that. It's especially convenient for
billboards, posters, and other ads you catch site of while you're on the move.

Transportation is another increasingly popular application. Numerous airline, railroad and

bus companies let you buy travel tickets online in advance and store them on your
cellphone. Your phone displays the details on its screen as a 2D barcode code, which
becomes your electronic ticket (and, in the case of airlines, your boarding pass. German
airline Lufthansa's Mobile Boarding Pass is an example.)