Barcode Reader & Magnetic Ink Character Recognition
Barcode Reader & Magnetic Ink Character Recognition
Barcode is a set of small bars of varying thickness and spacing printed on the packages of products, on the back coverpages of books, tags etc. The barcode reader uses an optical scanner to read product code and converts it into electrical pulses. The device is connected to a computer and the information read is passed to the computer in digital form for automatic bill generation and updating of files. Thus, it is a direct data entry device and there is no need for an operator to key in sales transaction data.
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) uses highly stylised character shapes printed in a special ink containing particles that can be magnetied. This ink induces a current in a reading circuit, which is proportional to the area of ink being scanned. The patterns of the varying currents can be compared with and selected as bit patterns of the selected number e.g., the number on a cheque). The MICR reader can only identify characters. Banking industry uses this device for sorting of cheques. The MICR codes read from the cheques are transmitted to an online computer for sorting and processing automatically.
