Barcodes. Why do barcodes have the thick and thin lines and numbers on them. Also, why are lasers used to scan them?
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It’s like words for computers. Basically the laser scans it and sends back where there is black and white. This is really easy for computers to read because white reflects the most light and black the least of the colors, to put it simply. Then it can tell where there is black and where there is white.
An easy way to think about it is each pixel of black adds one more to the count. So if it’s 7 pixels long, then that bar means a 7. But barcodes are much more complicated and it puts all these little numbers and indications it gets from it to decode a message. Basically a series of numbers that the computer then links up to a product in its system.
There are some barcodes like Coca Cola that pretty much every computer has the same because it’s on a list of universal barcodes. If you get chicken from the butcher at your grocery store, then it’s a barcode that’s only assigned to that in that grocery stores system
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