DATA MATRIX — Data Matrix was designed for small parts marking and is today used for small electrical parts, by the pharmaceutical industry for unit dose packaging, by the automotive industry and by NASA.

Data Matrix's high degree of redundancy (data is scattered throughout the symbol) and resistance to printing defects makes it highly reliable. The symbol's sides can be adjusted to carry more data in the same space or to fit the product. It has built-in error correction, but does not include human-readable data.

This code has a minimum print contrast requirement of 20% when reading with an industrial-quality CCD video camera.

Data Matrix is a 2 dimensional bar code which can store from 1 to about 2,000 characters. The symbol is square and can range from 0.001 inch per side up to 14 inches per side. As an example of density, 500 numeric only characters can be encoded in a 1-inch square using a 24-pin dot matrix printer. Two adjacent sides of the square symbol are solid black lines; the other two adjacent sides are printed as a series of equally spaced square dots.