Comments on: QR codes are so 2004. Get ready for ColorCode

By: Stuart

Stuart — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:59:39 +0000

I’m sure i remember seeing an article that showed how QR / DM codes could be integrated into physical ad messages / graffiti due to the phone camera being able to regognise a larger slice of the light spectrum than the human eye. Has this tech gone anywhere?

By: Yves

Yves — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 22:24:17 +0000

Zippy: I think you didn’t read this post nor their website properly.

First, it can use 3 “colors” as in black, white and grey, when printed in newspapers etc.

Second, it can contain a QR code embedded in the ColorCode, which means standard compliance and up to 7,000 characters data size.

Third, the technology has been developped in South Korea where it is used successfully on TV, in magazines, and by the SOuth Korean Telecom.

Not that I want to defend ColorCode no matter what, but I suggest you read before you criticize blindly…

By: Zippy

Zippy — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 20:50:40 +0000

While unique, this is really quite limited technology. First it does not contain enough data as it is considerably less than a EAN code. thus solutions can not scale and you are forced to always go to a sever to get more information. Second, it requires that it be printed in color. Further, given that the code is in color, one integrate ColorCodes with any other barcode format because typical barcode decoding requires that the images be converted to grayscale before decoding.

Also, while folks might think this is new technology, it has actually been kicking around for several years and no firms are using it. There is a reason.

By: tribalogical

tribalogical — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 03:28:03 +0000

True that on the surface, it’s not as revolutionary as one might imagine. But behind the scenes, via the server functionality, ColorCode serves some different and unique purposes. It also enables a solid alternative to magnetic strips for IP Transaction Handling, etc. The kinds of things that generally require a live connection anyway. It won’t serve every purpose or replace all barcodes (yet) but it offers a unique way of handling certain things…

It also operates much like DNS or name serving does, with each code being connected to a unique content chunk, whatever it is…. codes are “reusable”, and that’s not entirely new, but the approach is. Some of the magic is in the reader, which handles codes very quickly, on the move, and the color means a huge number of variants are possible. The ColorCode also has some niche potential as yet unrevealed…. you’ll be seeing lots of it before long, I’m sure…..

IMO, all codes have upsides/downsides, best place to apply them, etc. This one has some massive potential, for broadcast, and with the back-end services, much more…..

peace,
tribalogical

By: Ash

Ash — Sun, 24 Apr 2005 11:26:08 +0000

One of the key advantages of QRCodes (the name is short for Quick Response code) is that they contain the content rather than just a link to content. With conventional bar codes and now ColorCodes you have to connect to a server and wait for the content.

By: mehs

mehs — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 15:33:47 +0000

Actually it’s not really that different from an ordinary barcode. An ordinary barcode doesn’t contain much data itself either, but with the correct program you can fetch it from a server (example: scan a book barcode, program connect to amazon and gets title, author…).
Just because it uses colour – well, not a really great revolution ;)