Symbology Settings; Decoding Levels - HP Linear Barcode Scanner II Programming Reference Manual

Symbology Settings

Decoding Levels

Decoding Levels are used to configure a bar code symbology decoder to be very
aggressive to very conservative depending on a particular customer's needs.
• Choosing Level 1 results in a very conservative decoder at the expense of
not being able to read poorly printed or damaged labels.
• Choosing Level 5 results in a very aggressive decoder. This aggressive
behavior allows decoding of poorly printed and damaged labels at the
expense of increasing the likelihood of decoding errors.
• Choosing Level 3, which is the default setting, allows the majority of prod-
uct labels to be decoded.
There are many factors that determine when to change the decoding level for a
particular symbology. These factors include spots, voids, non-uniform bar/
space widths, damaged labels, etc. that may be experienced in some bar code
labels. If there are many hard to read or damaged labels that cannot be
decoded using a conservative setting, increase the decoding level to be more
aggressive. If the majority of labels are very good quality labels, or there is a
need to decrease the possibility of a decoder error, lower the decoding level to
a more conservative level.
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