All about Presentation Scanners

A presentation barcode scanner is also known as a Bench or Counter Top Scanner. They are stationary and designed to pass barcode (or products) in front of them. You may also hear the terms omni-directional as the barcode can be scanned from any angle which speeds up the operation. They are popular in areas such as Convenience Stores, Bottle Shops, Supermarkets and many other industries that require a "hands-free" scanning solution. 

There are Two Types of Presentation Mode.

The first is simple called Presentation mode. This is when the scanner is in an active standby mode. The LED light is dim until an object is passed in front of it from which it then detects a change in ambient light. The LED lighting gets brighter which activates the aimer and once a barcode is detected, it will scan.

The second is called Streaming Presentation Mode. When in streaming mode, the scanner’s LED continually stays on looking for an object and once detected, the aimer activates and reads the barcode. This is faster than the standard mode as the LED is already at full brightness so there is less time required for the aimer to activate and scan.

When purchasing a presentation barcode scanner, there are two common interfaces. They are RS232 & USB. RS-232 is a Serial Interface and used with older equipment or Cash Registers as they still have these ports available. The USB interface is more common and in most circumstances they are also "Plug & Play". 

The other thing you will need to decide is whether you require a 1D or 2D Barcode Scanner. The 2D scanners (or imagers) can scan both traditional 1D barcode as well as 2D Barcodes. The other question you may have is what is a 2D barcode? They are a 2 Dimensional barcode which can hold a significant amount of information. They are commonly seen in advertising or media to lookup a product, brochure, inside a magazine or even social media. You can scan these barcodes using a 2D scanner and more importantly, you can use our listed 2D Imagers to scan directly from an LCD Screen or Mobile Device.