Live data from Hacker News

JAB Code – A high-capacity 2D color bar code

github.com

91–100 of 183 posts

Re: JAB Code – A high-capacity 2D color bar code

#91
for those decrying the limited use of 2d barcodes in the US or in europe, you've never set foot in a manufacturing environment.

2d barcodes are used for cradle-to-grave inventory tracking by systems like Glovia and SAP. everything from transmission gears to soda pop are tagged during manufacture with numerous 2d barcodes that change at different stations, and at different times.

it doesnt matter what your new standard claims to achieve, it is useless without industry adoption. Toyota, Honda, Yamaha, Ford, Dell, and countless other manufacturing titans have invested collective billions into the QR implementations of their factories and arent going to re-tool just because your standard has colors.

QR is also massively resilient to failure. Try this experiment: cut a QR code in half, try to read it. It will succeed. This resilience is pivotal in harsh environments and especially during international/trans oceanic shipping.

black and white QR can be engraved on shipping containers and is resistant to corrosion, solvents, and the environment around it. QR codes are regularly burned at thousands of degrees as part of the heat treatment process for hardened steel, and still perform. Vision systems for forklifts and robotic cranes at shipping yards (most are robotic yards these days) rely on near/far vision systems developed by Intermec and other companies to read a code the size of a postage stamp from up to 150 meters away.

Re: JAB Code – A high-capacity 2D color bar code

#93

Yet again another barcode / QR proposal. Can't speak for the Americas, but here in Europe QR codes aren't used that much, I feel, except maybe for mobile payments. Compare this with China, where QR codes are in literally every store, each taxi driver has a printed one nearby and even street food cards use them to pay. I can't see this one becoming popular, given how many are printed on glossy / dirty paper (often usi…

In Germany and UK they are used for train and bus tickets.

Re: JAB Code – A high-capacity 2D color bar code

#94
post #93

Yet again another barcode / QR proposal. Can't speak for the Americas, but here in Europe QR codes aren't used that much, I feel, except maybe for mobile payments. Compare this with China, where QR codes are in literally every store, each taxi driver has a printed one nearby and even street food cards use them to pay. I can't see this one becoming popular, given how many are printed on glossy / dirty paper (often usi…

In Germany and UK they are used for train and bus tickets.

In the U.K. we actually use Aztec codes for train tickets, rather than QR. Not entirely sure why.

Re: JAB Code – A high-capacity 2D color bar code

#95
post #61

I wonder if the 'Master'/'Slave' terminology is necessary here? Aside from being problematic, does it really describe the setup more than 'Primary'/'Secondary'?

This is "retarded" all over again. Slavery in humans is bad. Slavery in software applications it not.

At a family dinner I once jokingly described my gluten-free girlfriend as "glutarded," which was our inside joke way to refer to her dietary restrictions. I forgot that my aunt's husband, who has some congenital language issues that leave him with a speech impediment, had grown up being bullied and called 'retard,' until he gasped when he heard my words. I felt horrible, and have since been more conscious with my words. I share this story here because I think it points to a similar issue--the tech world is often a homogenous environment without much representation for African Americans. Can you imagine walking into a classroom full of African American students and casually throwing around the phrase "master and slave" without evoking discomfort in that audience? If we continue to use this language comfortably it implies to me that we aren't inviting to the table the community for whom slavery is still very much an open wound.

Re: JAB Code – A high-capacity 2D color bar code

#96
post #91

for those decrying the limited use of 2d barcodes in the US or in europe, you've never set foot in a manufacturing environment. 2d barcodes are used for cradle-to-grave inventory tracking by systems like Glovia and SAP. everything from transmission gears to soda pop are tagged during manufacture with numerous 2d barcodes that change at different stations, and at different times. it doesnt matter what your new standar…

2D barcodes such as QR and datamatrix certainly have their place, but I wouldn't say they're "massively resilient" to failure.

The codes use reed-solomon ECC and the symbology spec has different levels of error tolerance ranging up to a max of ~30% errors. That's certainly robust but it still requires a controlled optical setup to avoid operator frustration. Sometimes, in some applications, a nice big 1D barcode is better. Your 150 meter postage stamp example is an extreme use case that requires a lot of setup to work properly.

This color barcode appears to be an effort from a respected institution to increase information density. It doesn't have to be immediately accepted by major manufacturers to succeed. It just has to solve some problems for some applications. I think it's a compelling new symbology.

I work in manufacturing too.

Re: JAB Code – A high-capacity 2D color bar code

#99

Yet again another barcode / QR proposal. Can't speak for the Americas, but here in Europe QR codes aren't used that much, I feel, except maybe for mobile payments. Compare this with China, where QR codes are in literally every store, each taxi driver has a printed one nearby and even street food cards use them to pay. I can't see this one becoming popular, given how many are printed on glossy / dirty paper (often usi…

I think it's the same for the Americas, but just because the average person doesn't use QR codes very much that doesn't mean that such technologies aren't being used in ways that aren't widely reported. For instance, I know someone who placed small barely-visible QR codes in videos that get passed off to editors so that each clip and frame number(and other info) can be detected programmatically despite editing softwa…

People are quick to point out "nobody uses QR" but it's not exactly fair

I think everyone uses them, but they just don't know it.

Pretty much every label on every consumer good (in America, at least) from cough syrup to Coca-Cola to computer chips has a tiny QR code on it. But since people don't actively engage with the code, they don't realize that it's there, and is a big part of the process of getting things from raw material to store shelves.

Re: JAB Code – A high-capacity 2D color bar code

#100
post #91

for those decrying the limited use of 2d barcodes in the US or in europe, you've never set foot in a manufacturing environment. 2d barcodes are used for cradle-to-grave inventory tracking by systems like Glovia and SAP. everything from transmission gears to soda pop are tagged during manufacture with numerous 2d barcodes that change at different stations, and at different times. it doesnt matter what your new standar…

2D barcodes such as QR and datamatrix certainly have their place, but I wouldn't say they're "massively resilient" to failure. The codes use reed-solomon ECC and the symbology spec has different levels of error tolerance ranging up to a max of ~30% errors. That's certainly robust but it still requires a controlled optical setup to avoid operator frustration. Sometimes, in some applications, a nice big 1D barcode is b…

What if we add color or even UV/IR to an existing QR code just to increase data redundancy? Backward-compatibility FTW!
Post reply on HN