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Scanning a Bar Code off Iphone Screen

As people have said a nubmer of airlines have Apps on the App store that diplay eletronic bar codes on the screen that their scanners can read.

You may run it to trouble with some screen protectors. My anti glare one stopped mine from working well. I had to scan it about five times when I tried to get it to read.
 
I tried in the apple store once, bought an iphone case, got the receipt emailed. The case was awful so I returned it half an hour later and we tried to scan the barcode off the pdf receipt. The glass is too reflective, it did not work. Maybe if the barcode was fullscreen and really high contrast.
 
Works like a champ!

Downloaded CardStar. Works great. Had a few member numbers that I had to enter under "advanced" using Codabar or Code 39. Everyone works except SAMS Club. Can't get a bar code to come up. Excellent app! My key chain thanks you!
 
I'm going to do some experiments with this and then get back to everyone and let you know. The Target store near my house has those price check scanners around the store where customers can scan items themselves. I'm going to grab some bar codes off of the internet, email them to myself and then go see if they will scan from my phone.
 
ssnspoon said:
Actually you can use it for bar codes. Continental and Delta have pilot plans for you to use the boarding pass barcode on your phone to scan and go onto the plane. I was tempted to try and use it last time I flew them, BUT at the time it was only a week old and I assumed I might have a problem getting through security screening with only my phone! Phone has to go thru xray, but you need to keep the boarding pass with you as you walk through metal detector???:confused:
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For what it's worth: I've done this through continental's mobile check-in on my iPhone. TSA screening went perfectly fine when going through Newark Airport., and my barcode for the boarding pass was scanned just fine.

The barcode for the second leg of my trip didn't work at the gate for the second, smaller regional airport that was equipped with older barcode scanners, but the ticket agent was able to clear me through manually without too much effort.

From what I was told, it all depends on the type of scanner the kiosk has. Newer scanners can read barcodes on mobile device screens, but older, linear-laser barcode scanners are likely to have problems.
 
RFID, which is rumored to be in the next-gen hardware, would greatly improve its consistency in this endeavor.
 
Depends on the type of scanner. There are many.

Laser scanners, probably not. High-res camera scanners, possibly, depending on how well they handle any display glass glare.
 
KingHuds said:
Also just did this at Newark Airport, worked fine.
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The airports I use the most right now don't support this (and probably aren't high on the priority list :( ) but I'm really curious to try it.

The number of bits in the 2D barcodes boarding passes use is pretty low... so I don't imagine this is very challenging. This is what they're doing, right, putting the 2D barcode on the phone and scanning it into the airport scanner, right?
 
The answer is YES!!

You can use your iPhone to provide a barcode at a store, airport, concert,etc, BUT and a big BUT, the place that is scanning it must be using CCD type scanners or camera based scanners. They actually take a picture of the barcode and interpret it as opposed to a laser scanning the barcode. Here is a very helpful link to this answer. http://www.taltech.com/resources/intro_to_bc/bcompscr.htm
 
Prof Al L Thumb said:
Downloaded CardStar. Works great. Had a few member numbers that I had to enter under "advanced" using Codabar or Code 39. Everyone works except SAMS Club. Can't get a bar code to come up. Excellent app! My key chain thanks you!
Click to expand...

Ive been trying to use cardstar but I dont have much luck with the store scanners recognizing the bar codes.
 
TubbyCow said:
I was wondering if anyone knew if it was possible to scann an barcode off o the iphone screen.

I recieved a train ticket confirmation via e-mail and need to take the printed confirmation to a kiosk at the station to print off the real ticket. the confirmation has a barcode which gets scanned. The barcode in the e-mail is able to be expanded quite largly and is very clearly on my screen, so it got me thinking if it is just possible to scan the iphone screen. Is the scan able to read a barcode on an iphone screen?

I'm not sure how a barcode scanner works, and realize i could just easily print it off and scan it, but thought i would ask.
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I used the electronic boarding pass flying out of SEA last month, and they definitly scanned my phone, but I'm not sure that will work for the train one. I think it specifically has to do with what type of code it is.
 
My cousin once scanned a picture of his work ID from his iPod Touch, I'd imagine other barcodes will work too. Just make sure the picture is close enough and not blurry
 
I'm in the bar code scanning industry... My company is the third largest manufacturer globally. The answer is yes, it can be scanned if the reader is a 2D, or "imager" reader, not a laser scanner. The 2D imager actually takes a digital picture of the bar code then decodes it.

I would take a paper copy just to be on the safe side, but deffinetly try it.
 
iphones4evry1 said:
I'm going to do some experiments with this and then get back to everyone and let you know. The Target store near my house has those price check scanners around the store where customers can scan items themselves. I'm going to grab some bar codes off of the internet, email them to myself and then go see if they will scan from my phone.
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It won't work... Most price checkers use a laser scan engine which oscillates a single beam hundreds of times a second to create a scan pattern... It would need to be a 2D imager which is basically a digital camera... Laser requires the capability to determine the light reflection between the black bars (absorb light) and white spaces (reflect light). This creates a morse code like signal for the decode mechanism to translate the data into human readable information... The display on the iPhone is not capable of creating these reflective differences, nor is a computer monitor, etc. Needs to be paper, etc.



This ends today's lesson in how bar code scanners work!
 
andythursby said:
i use the subcard app on the iphone, it's using one of those 3D barcodes and i have no issues.
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I've used that one just fine, no issues, it's a QR(?) code though, not a barcode.

Tesco released a clubcard app, which displays your clubcard barcode on the screen for scanning in store. It hasn't worked in a single store I've tried it in yet. It's almost as if they didn't test it first...
 
Scanning a barcode off iPhone

Use iBooks app. When given the option to print, save as PDF so you have a copy. Then choose "email PDF" When it gets to back to your mail you are given the option of opening it in iBooks. Your coupon/ticket is there til you delete it. I've used these in several stores,with both types of scanners, have never had a problem in any of them.
I'm using the iPhone 4 to do this, don't know if it's different on the older phones.
 
Most all of the bar codes that I get from emails, plane tickets to grocery key tags all scan just fine. It all depends on their scanners of course, but I have yet to find one where the application won't work.
 
abgould said:
Have you tried the app Cardstar? It allows you to put membership cards on your iPhone with bar codes.
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I was just getting ready to mention that app. Thanks for sharing with everyone else. I use Card Star for all of my store issued cards and have never had a problem. It's so much easier to shop not and my wallet is thinner.
 
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