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Here is a chart comparing information on some of the most commonly used industrial barcodes.
These are ALL bidirectional (can be scan from either direction).

Popular Barcodes


Symbol
Spec
Name

Example
Character
Set
Variable
Length
Discrete
/ Cont.
Check
Character
Max.
Density

Application
Code 39
USS-39
Code 39 Barcode
A
Variable
Discrete
Optional
9.8
In very wide use for many types of applications;
Logmars , HIBCC
Code 128
USS-128
Code 128 Barcode
Subset
A, B, C
Variable
(Even # of
Subset C)
Discrete
Required

Widely used; excellent for many applications
UPC-A

UPC-A Barcode
Numeric
Only
12 Fixed
(11 data + 1 check digit)
Continuous
Required

Retail product marking in USA and Canada
UPC-E

UPC-E Barcode
Numeric
Only
7 Fixed
(zero + 5 data + 1 check digit)
Continuous
Required

Retail product marking in USA and Canada;
compressed for products
with limited label space
EAN-13

EAN-13 Barcode
Numeric
Only
13 Fixed
(12 data + 1 check digit)
Continuous
Required

Retail product marking world-wide
EAN-8

EAN-8 Barcode
Numeric
Only
8 Fixed
Continuous
Required

Retail product marking world-wide; compressed
for products with limited label space
Inter-
leaved
2 of 5

Interleaved 2 of 5 Barcode
Numeric
Only
Variable
(Even # of
Digits)
Discrete
Optional

Very compact; encodes digits in pairs -- total
length must be even number of digits
NOTES:


   A = Caps + Special Non-Keyboard Codes + Numerals + Others
  B = Upper & Lowercase + Numerals + Others
  C = Numeric Only
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