Maxicode Capacity - Lexmark T656 Technical Reference Manual

A typical example is a PDF417 image with these characteristics:
• Character string "ABCDEFGHIJ".
• An ECC level of 3.
• Automatic Rows and Column specified.
• Aspect Ratio of 1.0 to 2.0
• PCL string: Esc(s3p2,1s24850TABCDEFGHIJ
Results:
• The HP BDP and LXK BCC create an image with 2 columns and 11 rows.
• The BCE creates an image with 1 column and 22 rows.
• The data scanned by a Symbol verifier from all 3 images is correct.
This deviation should be rare. When it does occur, it should not result in the loss of scannable data.
Note: Exact size compatibility of certain PDF417 bar code images with previous Lexmark
bar code options is not assured. However, the bar code will still scan correctly. If
the bar code image does not fit within the available space, users should either
resize their form to allow placement of current and previous bar code images, or
specify an absolute number of Rows and Columns using the available PCL or
Postscript controls. If the datastream controls are adjusted so that the images are
now the same, the corresponding image should be identical on both current and
previous bar code products, and the PDF417 should fit within the available space.

MaxiCode Capacity

Please refer to the AIM MaxiCode specification, which can be found at:
• http://lemming.sa.ap.lexmark.com/~tbarnett/files/AIM_Maxicode_05081997.pdf
On page 13, section 4.8 "Modes" defines the maximum number of characters (codewords) that can
be encoded.
• Section 4.8.4 says that a Mode 4 symbol will hold 93 codewords.
• Section 4.8.5 says that a Mode 5 symbol will hold 77 codewords.
• Section 4.8.6 does not specify Mode 6 symbol capacity, but it should be the same as Mode 4
(no error correction).
It is interesting that the original LXK BCC will encode more than the maximum amount allowed by the
AIM specification, but users should never exceed these values. If users were to change to other
printing equipment that did not tolerate a marginally higher capacity, their process would be broken.
Also, not all bar code reading equipment may be capable of decoding data in excess of the maximum
allowed in the AIM MaxiCode specification.
Deviations
156