Editing Barcode reader (section)

==== Omnidirectional barcode scanners ====
Omnidirectional scanning uses "series of straight or curved scanning lines of varying directions in the form of a starburst, a [[Lissajous curve]], or other multiangle arrangement are projected at the symbol and one or more of them will be able to cross all of the symbol's bars and spaces, no matter what the orientation.<ref name="Palmer, Bar Code Book">{{cite book |author=Roger C. Palmer |title=The Bar Code Book}}</ref> Almost  all of them use a laser. Unlike the simpler single-[[line laser]] scanners, they produce a pattern of beams in varying orientations allowing them to read barcodes presented to it at different angles. Most of them use a single rotating polygonal mirror and an arrangement of several fixed mirrors to generate their complex scan patterns.

Omnidirectional scanners are most familiar through the horizontal scanners in supermarkets, where packages are slid over a [[glass]] or [[sapphire]] window. There are a range of different omnidirectional units available which can be used for differing scanning applications, ranging from retail type applications with the barcodes read only a few centimetres away from the scanner to industrial conveyor scanning where the unit can be a couple of metres away or more from the code. Omnidirectional scanners are also better at reading poorly printed, wrinkled, or even torn barcodes.