Comparison With Other Symbologies
PDF417 is a stacked barcode that can be read with a simple linear scan being swept over the symbol. Those linear scans need the left and right columns with the start and stop code words. Additionally, the scan needs to know what row it is scanning, so each row of the symbol must also encode its row number. Furthermore, the reader's line scan won't scan just a row; it will typically start scanning one row, but then cross over to a neighbor and possibly continuing on to cross successive rows. In order to minimize the effect of these crossings, the PDF417 modules are tall and narrow — the height is typically three times the width. Also, each code word must indicate which row it belongs to so crossovers, when they occur, can be detected. The code words are also designed to be delta-decodable, so some code words are redundant. Each PDF data code word represents about 10 bits of information (log2(900) ≈ 9.8), but the printed code word (character) is 17 modules wide. Including a height of 3 modules, a PDF417 code word takes 51 square modules to represent 10 bits. That area does not count other overhead such as the start, stop, row, format, and ECC information.
Other 2D codes, such as DataMatrix and QR, are decoded with image sensors instead of uncoordinated linear scans. Those codes still need recognition and alignment patterns, but they do not need to be as prominent. An 8 bit code word will take 8 square modules (ignoring recognition, alignment, format, and ECC information).
In practice, a PDF417 symbol takes about four times the area of a DataMatrix or QR Code.
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