Glossary-8
MK1000 MicroKiosk Product Reference Guide
Specular Reflection The mirror-like direct reflection of light from a surface, which can
cause difficulty decoding a bar code.
Start/Stop
Character
A pattern of bars and spaces that provides the scanner with start and
stop reading instructions and scanning direction. The start and stop
characters are normally to the left and right margins of a horizontal
code.
Substrate A foundation material on which a substance or image is placed.
Symbol A scannable unit that encodes data within the conventions of a certain
symbology, usually including start/stop characters, quiet zones, data
characters, and check characters.
Symbol Aspect
Ratio
The ratio of symbol height to symbol width.
Symbol Height The distance between the outside edges of the quiet zones of the first
row and the last row.
Symbol Length Length of symbol measured from the beginning of the quiet zone
(margin) adjacent to the start character to the end of the quiet zone
(margin) adjacent to a stop character.
Symbology The structural rules and conventions for representing data within a
particular bar code type (e.g. UPC/EAN, Code 39).
Tolerance Allowable deviation from the nominal bar or space width.
UPC Universal Product Code. A relatively complex numeric symbology.
Each character consists of two bars and two spaces, each of which is
any of four widths. The standard symbology for retail food packages
in the United States.
Visible Laser Diode
(VLD)
A solid state device which produces visible laser light.