CCD camera

CCD stands for Charge-coupled Device. Inside a CCD camera, light-sensitive elements (CCD sensors) are mounted at the focal point of a lens system. A bar code is resolved into a dot matrix by the fast parallel-serial scanning of the individual points (pixels). A minimum pixel number must yield the projection of a narrow line in order to be resolved.

The code that is recorded by the CCD sensor is simulated as an electrical (binarized) pulse train. Here, too, the reading distance can be extended to several meters using appropriate lens optics.

CCD camera systems usually require an additional light source to illuminate the reading object.

For more information on CCD camera systems, see The further development of CCD cameras.

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