What is QR Code and How to scan?

You must have often seen a square shape barcode printed in the packaging of a product. These are called QR codes, although they are used in different areas. They can store many types of information which can be decoded in your smartphone with the help of a QR code scanner. On this post, we will know in detail about what is QR Code.

What is QR Code?

Using QR Codes, companies are able to transmit many types of additional information to their customers. Apart from this, they use it in many ways. For example, nowadays digital payment platforms are giving their customers the option to pay by scanning the code. So overall this technology has many benefits. Come what is QR Code? Explain it in a little more detail.

A QR code is a two-dimensional version of a barcode that stores information in a machine-readable optical label. The information stored in it can be accessed using a QR scanner. Its design is like a square box in which square black modules are made on top of white background.

URL, contact details, text and other types of data can be stored in a QR Code. Ordinary barcodes hold information in only one direction, whereas QR codes can hold information in both horizontal and vertical directions. For this reason, their storage capacity is more in comparison to any other barcode.

Full Form of QR Code

The full form of QR Code is "Quick Response Code".

Who Created The QR Code

In 1994, Denso Wave (a Japanese company) developed QR codes for the tracking of automobile parts. Till now the conventional barcode was being used for these works all over the world. But due to its fast decoding speed and many capabilities, it became more popular among companies. Its special thing is that it can be easily generated and used.

Purpose to generate QR code

Seeing this, a question can definitely come to anyone's mind, that what was the purpose of creating QR Code? You must know that everything is invented to solve some problem. Similarly, when 1D barcodes were created, however, they proved to be revolutionary for supermarket and general stock managment.

But they had their own limitations, one, only 8-15 characters could be encoded in them i.e. the storage capabilities were very low, secondly they were difficult to scan after being lightly rubbed. That's why the QR code was developed, it had the capability to hold about 7000 alphanumeric characters.

It could be scanned at ten times faster speed than any other code at that time. You can scan it from any direction and even if there is slight wear, the code hidden in it can be read by the scanner.

What is Static and Dynamic QR Code?

Static QR Codes are those in which the store information is completely uneditable. That is, once it is generated, the information in it cannot be changed. You can use this type of code for such a campaign, where there is no need to update the information. For example, in such a QR code, you can store any URL or address details.

Dynamic QR Codes have this ability, that the data encoded in them can be changed at any time. For example, you have created a code in which you have entered the details of the product, but after some time you feel the need to change it, then you can change it in the context of dynamic code. This gives you freedom from the cost of reprinting them.

What information can be stored in QR Code?

Different types of information can be stored in QR Code, some of them are as follows:

It can be used to store the contact details of a business.
The URL of a webpage or website can be stored in it so that the user can easily access it.
If you want to deliver any SMS related to your product to your costumers, then you can store it.
Personal information like phone number, email address, home address etc. can also be saved.
You can also use the authentication details of your Wifi networks to share with your customers.
It is used in the e-commerce payment system to send customers to the payment page without filling bank information.
To keep any kind of idea to your customers, you can store it in simple text.
If you are getting a special event done, then you can convey its complete information to the people through QR Code.
Attaching a link to a location is also not a bad way.

The above mentioned methods are those which are often used. Apart from this, you can use these codes as per your requirement. Today, the cameras of almost every new smartphone are such, in which an inbuilt scanner is given, that is, there is no need to download a special app. So in such a situation it is beneficial to use QR Codes.

How to Scan QR Code

If your smartphone supports any of these (Android, iOS, Blackberry, etc.) operating system (OS), then a QR scanner is already provided in it. For this, you just have to open the camera and point it above the QR code and wait for a few seconds. As soon as scanning is enabled, a notification (view QR code details) will appear at the top of the screen, by clicking on which you can encode it.

But if for some reason this does not happen, then you will have to download a QR Code reader app. Below is a list of some top apps that you can install:

How secure is the QR code

If you use QR code, then you should know about such areas of it which can pose a risk to your safety and security. Although QR codes in themselves are not a threat, but if they come from an untrusted sender, then it is a big threat. You cannot scan any such QR Codes, maybe a malicious link has been attached to it.

Therefore, before scanning any QR Code, you should see if it can be dangerous. Especially be careful about such codes printed in public places. Because they can land you in such web pages which are not secure. Even if you do not find any code to be a fraud, avoid entering bank details or personal information in it.

How to Create a Custom QR Code

Yes, you can also create your own QR code for free. Not only this, its design can also be customized according to your own. So let's see what we can do differently.

You can add your own logo in the center of the code.
Color can be changed.
The pattern of the data module can be edited.

In this you can store different types of data. For example URL, phone number, Some Text, SMS, Event, Location, etc. How to do all this, follow the steps given below.

Go to this link https://www.qrgeneratorscanner.com/
Here you can select the type of information, for example we are creating the QR Code of the URL of our website.
Enter the URL in the first row, now set the colors, after adding the logo in the second row, customize the logo design and then click on Create QR Code.

Now check it and see whether it is being read correctly or not. Download its PNG and now you can print it anywhere. Apart from this, if you get a better QR Code generator, then you can make them from there too.

Does This Code Expire

After that it depends from where you are generating these codes and what is the type of that code. For example, we told you about two types of QR codes, Static and Dynamic. If you create dynamic codes then they are paid as well as you also get support from the company. On the contrary, most of the static codes are absolutely free, but if an error occurs in them, then you cannot do anything.

How QR Code Works

If you look at the QR code, you will see three black squares and several black dots that represent certain pieces of information. When you point the scanner over it, it interprets the location of each block and recognizes characters by combining certain blocks. After which it encodes the information hidden in the code to us.

In simple language, each block and dots of QR Codes represent an alphanumeric, numeric, binary or kunji (key is a form of Chinese characters used in the modern Japanese writing system) characters. So if you also understand them, then it can be found out what is the information in these codes.

Differences between Barcode and QR Code

The most important difference between these two is that barcode is only one dimensional whereas QR code is referred to as two dimensional. This means that the barcode holds data only in the horizontal direction, the same can be done vertically in the QR code. Another major difference between them is the ability to store more information in less space, in which the QR code is far ahead.

An advantage of QR Code is that it can be read by Scanner from anywhere in 360 degrees, the same barcode is not able to do this. In terms of storage capacity also, it holds ten times more information. They work faster and more reliably than barcodes. Even if the QR code gets dirty or it gets torn a bit, people can still scan it effectively.

Conclusion

In this article, you have learned what is QR Code (What is QR Code in Hindi) , under which we have introduced you to its various aspects. So if you ever see this code installed in a similar or mall from the future, then understand that some additional information has been given about that thing in it. Apart from this, scan any such code carefully.

So hopefully, in this post what is QR Code and how to scan? You must have got to learn something from it. If you have any question or suggestion related to this, then please do tell in the comment below. In the end, you can also share this post as per your wish.