Optical product code barcode is a type of linear barcode used to encode numeric only data. OPC is based on interleaved 2 of 5 barcode symbology. Optical product code is also known as VCA, Vision Council of America barcode, VCA OPC, and OPC barcode. As UPC is used for identifying and marking general retail products, OPC is used for identifying retail optical products. Scanner enabled data entry services employ OPC code.
Structure
Optical Product code consists of a total of 10 characters. All the characters are numeric digits. These 10 digits are structured as follows:
· First 5 digits are assigned by the Optical product code council, Inc and they denote the manufacturer’s information.
· The next four digits are specified by the optical code manufacturer and they contain the information about the item. These four digits must be unique for every item.
· The last digit is the checksum which is automatically generated.
Advantages
· A very straight forward encoding and decoding technique, a layman user can understand it easily.
· Checksum digit provides automatic security feature.
· Based on interleaved 2 of 5 which mean that a simple scanner can be used to decode the information.
Limitations
· Can encode only numeric data. It cannot encode all the ASCII characters including alphabets and special characters.
· Limited density barcode. Can only encode small amount of data and in case large data has to be encoded. Width has to be increased.
· The ability to tolerate distortion and damages in optical product code is not very large.
Usage
· Widely used in warehouses and point of sale systems.
· Used at checkout points and small stores because of its simplicity and cheap scanning mechanism.