QR Code Full Form

What is the full form of QR Code?

QR Code is an acronym for Quick Response Code. It’s a trademark and is a sort of 2D barcode, which is made of a matrix of dots. It is a square-shaped code that holds information about values horizontally and vertically and allows each code to become unique. Denso Wave, a Japanese automotive company, invented it in 1994 to track vehicles while they were being manufactured. Later, it became a popular and stable code that was more reliable, had a higher storage capacity, and had fast readability. It became an impressive and dynamic tool for various businesses, organizations, colleges, and industries, which helped track data for different products in logistics. And now, with its increasing popularity, it is used worldwide.

Styles of a QR Code

The QR Code styles do the same thing but have slightly different styling. There are mainly five styles of a QR code, as mentioned below:

QR Code: It has an easily recognizable style with its three finder patterns at the top-left, right, and bottom-left corners of the code.

Semacode: It seems like a QR code, but does not contain a reader pattern on it.

Maxi Code: This style of QR Code is mostly used by the postal services of the United States. It uses a honeycomb pattern in the place of a square, and the Finder pattern is located in the middle region of the code.

PDF417: It appears like a combination of a bar code and a QR code, which is identified by its rectangular shape. It was developed at Symbol Technologies by Ynjiun Wang in 1991.

Aztec Code: It was designed by Welch Allyn. It looks like a QR code and its finder pattern is placed in the middle of the code.

Parts of a QR Code

A QR code consists of black squares with a white background, arranged in a square grid. We can consider it a machine-readable optical label that stores information about objects, products, and items.

It consists of six important parts, as described below:

Quiet Zone: It is an unfilled white border that frames the outside of a QR Code. The absence of this part will make the code unrecognizable to the QR reader.

Alignment Pattern: It is a mini square, located near the bottom right corner of the code. This ensures that the readability of the QR code can be determined from any angle.

Finder Pattern: Usually, the QR code consists of three patterns of black squares in the bottom left corner, top right corner, and top left corner. This informs a QR reader about the information on the code and outside its boundaries.

Timing Pattern: It’s an L-shaped line that runs between the 3 squares of the Finder Pattern. It allows the QR reader to verify the individual squares inside the entire code and makes it possible for a damaged QR code to be readable.

Version Information: It is a mini field of data that contains information close to the upper-right finder pattern cell and identifies the QR Code version that is being read.

Data Cells: Data Cells are the remaining parts of a QR code that carry the actual information, like messages, URLs, phone numbers, and other informational values.

How does a QR code work?

1. QR codes' interior patterns convey binary codes, which are then decrypted to obtain information.

2. The QR Scanner then recognises the finder's patterns based on three squares and determines what the code has stored.

3. Finally, the QR reader scans the individual grid squares and analyses a unique value using the black and white color scheme.

4. Then, it binds the grid squares and makes larger patterns.

Applications of a QR Code

1. To track automobile parts.

2. Verify login details and confirm online records.

3. Sending and receiving the payment information.

4. To download an app, go directly to the Apple Store or Google Play Store.