QR code

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A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols).[1] Created by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 to track vehicles during the manufacturing process,[2][unreliable
source?]

the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. It was designed to allow its

contents to be decoded at high speed.[3] The technology has seen frequent use in Japan; the United Kingdom is the seventh-largest national consumer of QR codes.[4]
Contents
[hide]

1 Standards 2 Design

2.1 Sto rage

2.2 En cryptio n

2.3 Err or

correct ion

2.4 En coding

3 License 4 Variants 5 Uses 6 Risks 7 See also 8 References 9 Bibliography 10 External links

[edit]Standards

Structure of a QR code, highlighting functional elements

There are several standards in documents covering the physical encoding of QR codes:[5]

October 1997 AIM (Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility) International[6] January 1999 JIS X 0510 June 2000 ISO/IEC 18004:2000 Information technology Automatic identification and data capture techniques Bar code symbology QR code (now withdrawn) Defines QR code models 1 and 2 symbols.

September 1, 2006 ISO/IEC 18004:2006 Information technology Automatic identification and data capture techniques QR code 2005 bar code symbology specification Defines QR code 2005 symbols, an extension of QR code model 2. Does not specify how to read QR code model 1 symbols, or require this for compliance.

At the application layer, there is some variation between implementations. NTT DoCoMo has established de facto standards for the encoding of URLs, contact information, and several other data types.[7] The open-source "ZXing" project maintains a list of QR code data types.[8]
[edit]Design [edit]Storage

The amount of data that can be stored in the QR code depends on the character set, version and error correction level. The maximum values for version 40 with error correction capacity level L:[3][9]
Numeric only Alphanumeric Binary (8 bits) Kanji/Kana Max. 7,089 characters Max. 4,296 characters Max. 2,953 bytes Max. 1,817 characters

Version 1, 21x21, 10-25 alphanumeric chars

Version 2, 25x25, 20-47 alphanumeric chars

Version 3, 29x29, 35-77 alphanumeric chars

Version 4, 33x33, 50-114 alphanumeric chars

Version 10, 57x57, 174-395 alphanumeric chars

Version 40, 177x177, 1,852-4,296 alphanumeric chars

[edit]Encryption

Although encrypted QR codes are not very common, there are a few implementations. An Android app,[10] for example, manages encryption and decryption of QR codes using DES algorithm (56 bits).[11] Japanese immigration use encrypted QR codes when placing visas in passports.
[edit]Error

correction

Example of a QR code with artistic embellishment that will still scan correctly thanks to error correction.

Codewords are 8 bits long and use the ReedSolomon error correction algorithm with four error correction levels. The higher the error correction level, the less storage capacity. While the exact number of errors that can be corrected depends on the size of the symbol and the location of the errors, the following table lists the approximate error correction capability at each of the four levels:
Level L Level M Level Q Level H 7% of codewords can be restored. 15% of codewords can be restored. 25% of codewords can be restored. 30% of codewords can be restored.

At the highest error correction level it is possible to create artistic QR codes that still scan correctly, but contain intentional errors to make them more readable or attractive to the human eye, as well as to incorporate colors, logos and other features into the QR code block.[12][13]
[edit]Encoding

The format information records two things: the error correction level and the mask pattern used for the symbol. Masking is used to break up patterns in the data area that might confuse a scanner, such as large blank areas or misleading features that look like the locator marks. The mask patterns are defined on a 66 grid that is repeated as necessary to cover the whole symbol. Modules corresponding to the dark areas of the mask are inverted. The format information is protected from errors with a BCH code, and two complete copies are included in each QR symbol. The message data is placed from right to left in a zigzag pattern, as shown below. In larger symbols, this is complicated by the presence of the alignment patterns and the use of multiple interleaved error-correction blocks.

Meaning of format information

Message placement within a QR symbol

Four-bit indicators are used to select the encoding mode and convey other information. Encoding modes can be mixed as needed within a QR symbol.
Indicato r

Meaning

0001

Numeric encoding (10 bits per 3 digits)

0010

Alphanumeric encoding (11 bits per 2 characters)

0100

Byte encoding (8 bits per character)

1000

Kanji encoding (13 bits per character)

0111

Extended Channel Interpretation

0011

Structured append (used to split a message across multiple QR symbols)

0000

End of message

Alphanumeric encoding mode stores a message more compactly than the byte mode, but cannot store lower-case letters and has only a limited selection of punctuation marks. Two characters are coded in an 11-bit value by this formula: V = 45C1 + C2 Alphanumeric character codes are as follows.
Code Character Code Character Code Character Code Character Code Character

18

27

36

space

10

19

28

37

11

20

29

38

12

21

30

39

13

22

31

40

14

23

32

41

15

24

33

42

16

25

34

43

17

26

35

44

[edit]License

The use of QR codes is free of any license. The QR code is clearly defined and published as an ISO standard. Denso Wave owns the patent rights on QR codes, but has chosen not to exercise them.[5] In the USA, the granted QR code patent is US 5726435. In Japan it is JP 2938338. In Germany it is DE 69518098 (the European Patent Office granted patent EP0672994 to Denso Wave, but Denso only "nationalized" the patent grant in Germany). The term QR code itself is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Incorporated.[14]
[edit]Variants

Example ofMicro QR

Micro QR code is a smaller version of the QR code standard for applications with less ability to handle large scans. There are different forms of Micro QR codes as well. The highest of these can hold 35 numeric characters. Standard QR code is the QR code standard for applications that possess the ability to handle large scans. A standard QR code can contain up to 7089 characters, though not all QR readers can accept that much data.
[edit]Uses

Although initially used to track parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR codes are now (as of 2011) used over a much wider range of applications, including commercial tracking, entertainment and transport ticketing, product marketing and in-store product labeling. Many of these applications target mobile-phone users (via mobile tagging). Users may receive text, add a vCard contact to their device, open a Uniform Resource

Identifier (URI), or compose an e-mail or text message after scanning QR codes. They can generate and print their own QR codes for others to scan and use by visiting one of several pay or free QR code-generating sites or apps. Google has a popular API to generate QR codes,[15] and apps for scanning QR codes can be found on nearly all smartphone devices.[16] QR codes storing addresses and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) may appear in magazines, on signs, on buses, on business cards, or on almost any object about which users might need information. Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the image of the QR code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a web page in the telephone's browser. This act of linking from physical world objects is termed hardlinking or object hyperlinking. QR Codes may also be linked to a location to track where a code has been scanned. Either the application that scans the QR Code retrieves the geo information by using GPS and cell tower triangulation (aGPS) or the URL encoded in the QR Code itself is associated with a location. [17] QR codes can be used in Google's mobile Android operating system via both their own Google Goggles application or 3rd party barcode scanners like ZXing or Kaywa. The browser supports URI redirection, which allows QR codes to send metadata to existing applications on the device. Nokia's Symbian operating system features a barcode scanner which can read QR codes,[18] while mbarcode[19] is a QR code reader for the Maemo operating system. In the Apple iOS, a QR code reader is not natively included, but more than fifty paid and free apps are available with both scanning capabilities and hardlinking to URI. WithBlackBerry devices, the App World application can natively scan QR codes and load any recognized Web URLs on the device's Web browser. Windows Phone 7.5 is able to scan QR codes through the Bingsearch app. In the USA, QR code usage is expanding.[citation needed] During the month of June 2011, according to one study, 14 million mobile users scanned a QR code or a barcode. Some 58% of those users scanned a QR or bar code from their home, while 39% scanned from retail stores; 53% of the 14 million users were men between the ages of 18 and 34.[20] While the adoption of QR codes in some markets has been slow to begin (particularly in markets such as the United States, where competing standards such as Data Matrix exist), the technology is gaining some traction in the smartphone market. Many Android, Nokia, Blackberry handsets, and the Nintendo 3DS, come with QR code readers installed. QR reader software is available for most mobile platforms. Moreover, there are a number of online QR code generators which enable users to create QR codes for their own needs.
[edit]Risks

Malicious QR codes combined with a permissive reader can put a computer's contents and user's privacy at risk. QR codes intentionally obscure and compress their contents and intent to humans.[21] They are easily created and may be affixed over legitimate QR codes.[22] On a smartphone, the reader's many permissions

may allow use of the camera, full internet access, read/write contact data, GPS, read browserhistory, read/write local storage, and global system changes.[23][24][25] Risks include linking to dangerous websites with browser exploits, enabling the microphone/camera/GPS and then streaming those feeds to a remote server, analysis of sensitive data (passwords, files, contacts, transactions),[26] and sending email/SMS/IM messages or DDOS packets as part of a botnet, corrupting privacy settings, stealing identity,[27] and even containing malicious logic themselves such as JavaScript[28]or a virus.[29]
[30]

These actions may occur in the background while the user only sees the reader opening a black harmless

webpage.[31]

Generator vCard, generator QR Code, generator Data Matrix

Acesta este un generator de fiiere vCard i codurile de bare bidimensionale QR Code i Data Matrix asociate. Acestea sunt formate de carte de vizit digital, utilizate de regul pentru a nlesni vizitatorilor unui site accesul la datele de contact pentru site-ul respectiv, n special n ceea ce privete dispozitivele mobile.

Informaii despre formatele vCard, QR Code i Data Matrix

Datele n format vCard sunt coninute ntr-un fiier text formatat ntr-un anumit fel; n general acesta are extensia .vcf. Fiierele vCard sunt recunoscute de vasta majoritate a aplicaiilor i dispozitivelor mobile. Datele n format QR Code i Data Matrix sunt afiate sub form de imagine (ambele sunt coduri de bare bidimensionale, spre deosebire de codurile de bare unidimensionale imprimate pe produsele de larg consum). Codurile de bare QR Code i Data Matrix pot fi scanate folosind diverse dispozitive mobile. Aceste coduri de bare pot conine orice fel de date, de la text pn la date structurate precum date de contact, date de localizare geografic i aa mai departe. Afiarea datelor de contact n format QR Code i/sau Data Matrix este util deoarece acestea sunt capturate direct n dispozitivul mobil, fr a mai fi necesar transcrierea lor manual. n mod ideal, n versiunea pentru dispozitive mobile a site-ului trebuie inclus o legtur ctre fiierul vCard (n aa fel nct vizitatorul s poat descrca fiierul respectiv direct pe dispozitivul mobil), iar n versiunea generic a site-ului trebuie afiat imaginea codului QR i/sau Data Matrix (n aa fel nct vizitatorul s le poat scana cu dispozitivul mobil de pe monitorul calculatorului). Alternativ putei include ambele variante ale crii de vizit una lng cealalt (imaginea codului QR sau Data Matrix i o legtur ctre fiierul vCard). Indiferent de opiunea dumneavoastr, nu uitai c trebuie s afiai i datele de contact ntr-o form lizibil. Pentru exemplificare comparai pagina de contact Moongate pentru dispozitive mobile cu pagina de contact implicit (noi am ales s utilizm doar formatul QR pe pagina de contact, ns nevoile dumneavoastr pot varia).