[myokeeh]

Is anyone else having trouble getting barcodes on FidMe, Wallet, etc? It seems barcode scanners/readers at store registers can't read them from my phone. My wife has one too, and the same problem.

[pavvento]

I haven't had any issues using the Starbucks app, it scans the barcode with no problem.

[myokeeh]

Well that's good to hear. I've tried Target, Walmart, and CVS so far.

I've also tried just taking a picture of a UPC and having a price check kiosk pick it up, but no luck.

[myokeeh]

And just to clarify what you mean by that: do you mean that the barcode reader at Starbuck had no problem reading a barcode that's on your phone's screen?

[myokeeh]

Come on. There's more than 3 Lumia 920 users out there.

[Etyrnus]

Haven't tried, haven't had a need to try.

[nitrocs]

PETCO card scanned from screen OK the other day

[Ruined]

I have an HTC Trophy and also have problems with a store's barcode readers scanning the phone's screen. I don't believe this is unique to this phone, therefore, and is likely common.

[odin09]

My trophy has been unscannable

[John Kwon]

Never worked with my old iPhone and the app I was using to store all my reward card barcodes. I think the majority of scanners have trouble reading from a surface that is emitting light. They weren't designed for that purpose.

[myokeeh]

Hmm. I've used an HTC HD2 and Radar 4G before the Lumia 920. Had no issues with those. But I do believe what most of you are saying -- phone screens are not meant to be scanned by those things.

[Moocowdeluxe]

This is a common issue and is not unique to the L920. As mentioned, barcode scanners were not meant to scan images off a screen, which is different than scanning a printed code on a piece of paper, cardboard box, etc. There are some models of barcode scanners that will do it, but many that won't. Best Buy seems to use scanners that are able to read off the screen, in my experience. Everywhere else is a toss-up.

[wfblue]

Any luck with airlines?

[sinime]

Idk, I downloaded an app to store the cards that have a barcode... Haven't tried any of them yet though.

I would like to try a Starbucks app, but alas, I'm too paranoid to use an unofficial app that has access to my money :(

[jsk0703]

I would like to try a Starbucks app, but alas, I'm too paranoid to use an unofficial app that has access to my money :(

I think the Starbucks apps can only check your balance. You cannot transfer or reload funds. You still have to go to the website for that. I use the SBUX app with no issues just wish it was ad-free. Also used the barcode at Walmart to pickup some merchandise I ordered online. No issue there either.

[scgf]

I had this problem with my iPhones and the Lumia 920 is no different. Just occasionally a hand-held barcode scanner will work, but most often the checkout operators haven't a clue about scanning and wave the phone about madly trying to get it to scan, lol. Flat-bed scanners seem never to work.

I read somewhere that scanners are being updated to models that will work reading from a phone screen - reckon this will happen in the larger chains first. At the moment checkout operators are happy to input the code manually (once told this is poossible) which works fine. In my local supermarket I can input the code myself into the self-checkout in the place you'd normally type in a product code if the scanner can't read a product barcode and it correctly accepts it as my loyalty card rather than a product.

[BeaverJuicer]

Here is why they won't work.

Traditional (including 3D) scanners with lasers work by bouncing the laser off the barcode, and reading what is returned. It's pure 1s and 0s. Light on, light off. Black bounces back less light. Someone will ask why this won't work scanning a screen, that still has black and white? Quite simple. The scanner is attuned to the specific wavelength of the laser. It cannot read the screen because it isn't the same red wavelength. The laser will bounce back equally across the entire display, because the glass will look like a mirror to it. There is no differentiation of light, so no light on light off effect. No 1s and 0s.

More recently, barcode scanners have been implementing optical cameras, that work much the same way as a QR reader on your phone would. It takes a look at the image, and is smart enough to figure out the orientation and then read the information from it. Some of these will even look so much like the traditional scanner that they will have lasers they use, but it is for the operator to know they have aligned the barcode in the right spot for the camera to see the code.

So... Long story short, any store that uses a traditional laser barcode scanner will not be able to read anything off your phone. Any store with an optical scanner, even if it shoots laserbeams from its forehead, will have no problem reading the code from your phone.

[anthonyng]

man this better, work. I use mobile boarding passes for flying all the time. I haven't had to fly yet....

besides my airline needs to update their mobile stuff to work on IE10, I can't open boarding pass links with my 920 currently because of unsupported browser.

[bradhicks]

I use the Subway app, and the scanners in subway stores can easily read the QR code on my Nokia 920 screen every time I scan it to collect reward dollars on purchases. Also works when they send my vouchers to use for free cookies/drinks.
Haven't tried any other apps for scanning though sorry.

[eortizr]

Is not a problem only in the Lumia. Most laser scanners will have trouble reading a barcode from a reflective surface. Only infrared ones have better luck.

[agarcia59]

So... Long story short, any store that uses a traditional laser barcode scanner will not be able to read anything off your phone. Any store with an optical scanner, even if it shoots laserbeams from its forehead, will have no problem reading the code from your phone.

Hmm, this can be an interesting conversation. I would imagine that since your eyes can still tell a difference between black & white on the screen, the laser would also be able to tell a difference. Since black & white are just wavelengths themselves, their wavelength shouldn't change when being confined to a phone screen.

I would actually attribute the problem to the orientation of the barcode. If you hold your phone exactly parallel to the barcode and take the image while the camera is exactly parallel to the barcode, I think the barcode should work. This is just my opinion. Please feel free to argue the point. Also, there's probably a "sweet spot" of how wide the barcode should be, for example if you take the image while the phone is 20 feet from the barcode, that image will be too small, & a similar effect for being too near the barcode.

[CaptDjob]

No problems in airports with amoled screen N8. Could it be that amoled (when black pixels are really black (leds are off) is easier for scanners to read? Haven't tried Lumia yet.

[BeaverJuicer]

Hmm, this can be an interesting conversation. I would imagine that since your eyes can still tell a difference between black & white on the screen, the laser would also be able to tell a difference. Since black & white are just wavelengths themselves, their wavelength shouldn't change when being confined to a phone screen.

Your eyes are attached to a wonderful thing called a brain that can distinguish these things, yes. Traditional barcode scanners don't. If the laser light is bouncing back, it puts out +5V. If it's not, it doesn't. The laser scanner isn't detecting any and all wavelengths, it is looking for that one specific wavelength that it is tuned for. Essentially, that is the only light it sees.

[agarcia59]

Your eyes are attached to a wonderful thing called a brain that can distinguish these things, yes. Traditional barcode scanners don't. If the laser light is bouncing back, it puts out +5V. If it's not, it doesn't. The laser scanner isn't detecting any and all wavelengths, it is looking for that one specific wavelength that it is tuned for. Essentially, that is the only light it sees.

I still have trouble accepting that as completely true... So this means that the people whom have said their phone's barcodes work have been lucky enough to use scanners whose technologies are more advanced than the traditional laser scanner?

[uselessrobot]

I find it interesting that my old Android phone was much more effective at scanning barcodes than my Lumia 920. I can eventually scan most codes but sometimes it takes the phone a while to get it. I don't know if that's due to the apps themselves or the camera.