Handheld Barcode Scanner

A barcode reader is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodes, decode the data contained in the barcode to a computer. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor for translating optical impulses into electrical signals. The heart of the handheld scanner is its detector array: a set of tiny light sensors formed into a line that takes up most of the scanner's length. As it passes over a document, the scanner illuminates the page, and the sensors pick up the image or text as a set of points of light.