A method and apparatus for verifying a container code.

摘要

An apparatus and method for verifying a code displayed on a container surface against a target code, the method comprising the steps of: capturing an image of the container surface carrying the displayed code; digitising the captured image to form a pixel array in which each pixel in the array has a respective quantisation level; scanning the pixel array to detect potential characters; selecting and grouping together potential characters of the displayed code; determining from the pixel values of the potential characters a set of recognised characters constituting a recognised code; comparing the target code with the recognised code; and either verifying or rejecting the recognised code in dependence upon the results of the comparison between the target code and the recognised code. <IMAGE>