Barcode Scanners

The Barcode Rack has information on the latest on barcode scanners. There are many products and services provided to businesses from many providers. The use of barcodes has grown dramatically over the last 15 years. With the adoption of the UPC as the standard for. Bar coding is now a major part of automated warehouse systems, health care record keeping, retail grocery stores in the late 70's, barcodes have entrenched themselves into everyone's lives inventory management, shipping and receiving, library processing, and many other applications.

Bar coding is made up of a few major components. The components include, input devices, decoders, host connections, printers, display units communications, operating systems, and software. Warehouse components include access point, software, terminals and printers.

If wireless bar coding is your preference, then there are choices of wireless radio cards associated with 801.1 IEEE, 802.11a and 802.11b technologies.

Benefits for the warehouse consist of enhancements and productivity gains in work in process and staging tracking, pick/put away/cycle counting, receiving and inventory, accounting, customer relationship management, inventory control and warehouse management.

Barcode scanners come in many configurations. You can purchase a decoded scanner or undecoded scanner. The difference is that a decoded scanner is able to output the decoded signals that the scanner reads to a computer so it can understand the language such as Keyboard wedge and RS-232C outputs. The undecoded reader basically outputs waveform information which requires an additional decoder circuit / components. the undecoded barcode reader is normally used for system/hardware integration purposes where the system/hardware have the decoder circuit and IC designing already.

Interfaces for the barcode scanners include:

Keyboard wedge interface with PS/2 or PC/AT (MiniDin6/DIN5) connectors: The scanners come with a piece of "Y" shaped cable that has 2 PS/2 male and female headers, one end of the cable goes to the computer host's keyboard PS/2 port, and another end goes to a standard Computer Keyboard, so that the scanner is able to input data to the computer like though it were typed on the keyboard by Keyboard Emulation Technology, therefore, Barcode Scanner with Keyboard Wedge Interface is plug&play like a computer keyboard made for PC or MAC.
USB interface is probably the most common barcode scanner interface today, it requires no software driver like the keyboard wedge interface, and it is of course features plug&play as well. Another advantage of using the USB interface is that it is compatible with all notebook/laptop computers that has USB port on the market.
RS-232C interface is the standard serial interface, Data is sent in ASCII format at RS-232 levels (Most Common handshaking is 9600,N,8,1 for barcode scanning devices with serial interface.). Serial ports on a PC are RS-232, however the user must have software drivers to input data from the port. Generally, all POS application software on the market are supporting RS-232 communication since RS-232 is the most common serial data interface for POS devices. Simple testing of a RS-232 barcode scanner can be done via the default Windows Communication Tool - The HyperTerminal (Hyperterm.exe), simply run the Windows HyperTerminal, select the COM port where your scanner is connecting with, and assign the suitable handshaking properties (baud rate, parity, and start/stop bit), scan few barcode label and see if the scanned data comes out correctly in the HyperTerminal screen.
Wand emulation is designed for old POS systems that were previously using the barcode light pen (wand) as its barcode reader. The barcode scanner with wand emulation interface will actually decode and then emulates TTL level signal output as an an old wand device.
OCIA interface is used in many old cash register and POS terminals. The interface is similar to keyboard wedge.

Using the above information, the correct barcode scanners can be picked for your application.