You can find many types of barcode scanners in the market depending upon their shape, size and type. You may choose a barcode scanner according your requirement. There are small handheld to big wall mounted one.
All scanners have their own unique use and features. The simplest form of a barcode scanner is the handheld scanner. Very light weight and easy to use, they are also called as wand readers. They consist of this trigger which turns on the source of light off and on. For reading the barcode label, the reader points straight at the label and held at 90 degrees with the vertical lines on the label. After switching on the trigger, the light source emits light which reads the barcode.
Though very cheap and easy to use, handheld readers are not suitable for large establishments even retail outlets that where a great many barcodes are processed every day is not suitable to use handheld scanners. The readers that are generally used in retail outlets are the fixed barcode readers. They too have a source of light and a photodiode which processes the reflected light and sends in to the decoder. The decoder transforms it into a plain text format. And fixed scanner uses better technology which lets it read barcode labels even when dirty, soiled or torn.
But today many hybrid models are also available. They are very light to be used as hand held scanners but also contain stands that allow them to be fixed at a place, hence combining the qualities of both fixed as well as handheld scanners. They are perfect for smaller stores and outlets where it is necessary to process labels for many products but also need mobility. These scanners can work as a hand held by operator by pushing the trigger when a barcode is to be read, or by using it as a fixed scanner without needing an operator.
The most widely used scanners generally have a row of small sources of light. When the barcode label has to be read, it needs to point at 90 degrees with the barcode lines. If the scanner is held at a different angle they won't work and will not read the label. But now due to new technological advances, the new type of scanners consists of hundreds of tiny light sensors that are lined in a 2 dimensional array to generate image. In such kind of scanners you may point the scanner in any angle; it will read the barcode correctly. These are known as Omni-directional scanners which usually make use of laser beams. These scanners are perfect for establishments where there are a great many products to be processed and often sorting of parcels take place.
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