A short slidedeck Scandit CTO Christian Floerkemeier prepared for a recent industry event showcasing the reasons developers should support blurry barcode scanning in their mobile app. For more information, check out our blog at www.scandit.com/blog

1. Blurry Barcode Scanning:
What It Means and
Why It Matters
Christian Floerkemeier, CTO
info@scandit.com
@scandit
www.scandit.com

2. INTRO
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 Only the most advanced mobile
barcode scanning solutions such
as our Scandit SDK allow the
decoding of barcodes in blurry
images.
 Open-source solutions such as
zxing or zbar can only decode
barcodes in sharp images.
 This talk explains why barcode
decoding in blurry images is a Blurry Barcode Decoding
must-have for any serious app. with the Scandit SDK

3. WHY BLURRY BARCODE SCANNING
MATTERS
3
 Essential for any device
without autofocus:
 Don’t miss out on an additional
140 million devices that could run
your app!
 Accelerates barcode decoding
on average by 100%
 App users will be scanning
barcodes lightning fast
 Scans barcodes reliably when
the simple, “sharp-only”
approaches fail
 App users will not become
frustrated because barcodes are
not decoded

4. ESSENTIAL FOR DEVICES WITHOUT
AUTOFOCUS
4
 Barcodes appear blurry
because focus of camera
cannot be adjusted
 Using low-end barcode
scanners means that your
app will not be useable by
customers with such
phones
Blurry Barcode Image with
Android Phone Without
Autofocus Camera: Huawei X3

5. DON’T MISS OUT ON 54 MILLION
POTENTIAL ANDROID USERS
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 Globally, 54 million
Android devices do
not have an
autofocus camera
 The lower the cost of
the device, the
higher the proportion
of non-autofocus
phones

6. DON’T MISS OUT ON 86 MILLION
POTENTIAL iOS USERS
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 86 million iOS
devices around the
world do not have
autofocus cameras
 This includes the
iPad 2, iPod Touch
(and the iPhone 3G)

7. AUTOFOCUS INTRODUCES DELAY
7
Autofocus process takes 1-1.5 seconds on most devices

8. BLURRY DECODING ACCELERATES
BARCODE SCANNING
8
 With built-in blurry barcode
scanning capabilities, barcodes
are decoded immediately.
 Your app users don’t have to wait
for the autofocus to finish.
 Leads to a scanning time that is
on average 100% faster.
Blurry Barcode Decoding
with the Scandit SDK

9. NO FAILED SCANS WHEN
AUTOFOCUS FAILS
9
 Autofocus cameras cannot focus
on tiny objects
 such as the fine barcode on this pen
 A blurry barcode scanner such as
the Scandit SDK has no problems
decoding such a barcode.

10. NO FAILED SCANS WHEN
AUTOFOCUS FAILS
10
 Autofocus cameras cannot focus
on barcodes held to close to the
camera
 Usersoften think the closer the
barcode to the camera, the easier the
decoding
 Low-end barcode scanners that
can only decode sharp barcode
image will frustrate the user
because the barcode is not
decoded until placed further away

11. NO FAILED SCANS WHEN
AUTOFOCUS FAILS
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 Autofocus cameras cannot
compensate for motion blur
 Usersfind it often difficult to hold the
camera still
 Low-end barcode scanners
without blurry capabilities will
require the users to hold the
camera perfectly still
 Increases learning curve and
frustrates app users

12. BLURRY BARCODE SCANNING IN
CHALLENGING CONDITIONS
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Shadow
Non-uniform
background
Crumpled surface
Transparent code on Glare
round surface

13. ADVANCED IMAGE PROCESSING
SOLUTIONS
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brightness values along sharp scan line
300
250
brightness value
200
150
100
50
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
position in scan line / pixels
brightness values along blurry scan line
300
250
brightness value
200
150
100
50
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
position in scan line / pixels

14. CONCLUSION
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 Use Advanced Barcode Scanning
Solutions such as the Scandit
SDK:
 To
increase the number of devices
supported by your app by 40%
 Tomake barcode scanning lightning
fast
 Toavoid frustrating your users with
barcode scanning software that only
works in ideal conditions
Blurry Barcode Decoding
with the Scandit SDK

15. FURTHER INFORMATION
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Blurry Barcode Scanning Blog Post Series
Introduction: Why Bother?
Market Perspective: Original Research Study
Technical Perspective: Reasons for Use
Additional Web Resources
Try the Scandit SDK: http://bit.ly/wpScnf
Email: info@scandit.com
Twitter: @scandit
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/zTGt63