Offset Printing

Ricoh Americas Announces Barcode Scanning Digital Camera

Friday 25. January 2008 - Camera embeds barcode data into high-resolution images

Ricoh Americas today introduced the Ricoh 500SE Digital Camera with integrated barcode scanning capabilities. Designed for barcode-based workflows that require high-quality images, the 500SE provides an easy to use all-in-one ruggedized solution that overcomes the image quality shortfalls of alternative systems.

“Ricoh recognizes the importance of image quality when photographing bar-coded assets or objects. By taking a ‘camera-first’ approach in designing the 500SE, we have developed a superior solution for relating images to barcodes,” said Jeff Lengyel, manager of Ricoh Americas Digital Camera Division.

The 500SE supports all popular 1D barcodes and can scan barcodes optically through its lens or it may be augmented with the SE-4 laser-scanning module for workflows that require laser scanning. The scanned barcode information is embedded directly into a data area in the JPEG files as they are captured. An on-board ‘data-dictionary’ allows for additional user-defined information, such as the photographers name or job number, to be embedded into the images as well. When the resulting ‘data-image’ is transferred to a computing device all of the embedded ‘meta-data’ is extracted automatically and used to perform a variety of automated tasks such as renaming the image based off the barcode data, imprinting the information on the image or even creating a complete database of all the images and their related meta-data.

The 500SE is equipped with 802.11b/g and Bluetooth capabilities to wirelessly transfer images directly to handheld devices or servers as the images are captured. Built to operate reliably in the harshest of conditions, the 500SE is shock resistant and waterproof.

Suggested retail of the 500SE is $899.00. The SE-4 laser-scanning module is $349.00. Ricoh is seeking qualified Developers and Value Added Resellers in the bar-coding industry to offer the camera as part of an integrated solution.