A QR Code (QR is the abbreviation for Quick Response) is a two-dimensional code, readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. It was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994.
QR Code is capable of handling all types of data (see a table below):
Numeric mode: |
0123456789 |
Maximum 7089 characters |
Alphanumeric mode: |
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789 $ % * + - . / : space |
Maximum 4296 characters |
Binary mode (8 bits byte data): |
JIS 8-bit (Latin and Kana) |
Maximum 2953 bytes |
Kanji mode: |
Shift JIS (8140H-9FFCH and E040H-EBBFH) |
Maximum 1817 characters |
The QR Code characteristics:
The barcode size (not including quiet zone): Versions 1 to 40 (21*21 modules to 177*177 modules, increasing in steps of 4 modules per side)
Four levels of error correction allowing recovery of:
Correction Level |
Percentage of the recovered information |
L |
7% |
M |
15% |
Q |
25% |
H |
30% |
The higher the level of correction is, the bigger percentage of information of the corrupted barcode can be recovered, but fewer information can be encoded in the barcode of the same size.
A "QR Code" barcode.