1、INCITS/ISO/IEC 18050:20062008 (ISO/IEC 18050:2006, IDT) Information technology Office equipment Print qualityattributes for machine readableDigital Postage MarksINCITS/ISO/IEC 18050:20062008(ISO/IEC 18050:2006, IDT)INCITS/ISO/IEC 18050:20062008 ii ITIC 2008 All rights reserved PDF disclaimer This PD
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4、DF-creation parameters were optimized for printing. Every care has been taken to ensure that the file is suitable for use by ISO member bodies. In the unlikely event that a problem relating to it is found, please inform the Central Secretariat at the address given below. Adopted by INCITS (InterNati
5、onal Committee for Information Technology Standards) as an American National Standard. Date of ANSI Approval: 6/18/2008 Published by American National Standards Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, New York, New York 10036 Copyright 2008 by Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). All rights reserv
6、ed. These materials are subject to copyright claims of International Standardization Organization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). Not for resale. No part of this publication may b
7、e reproduced in any form, including an electronic retrieval system, without the prior written permission of ITI. All requests pertaining to this standard should be submitted to ITI, 1250 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC 20005. Printed in the United States of America Contents Page Foreword v Introductio
8、n. vi 1 Scope 1 2 Normative references1 3 Terms and definitions .2 4 Symbols and abbreviations.3 5 Requirements3 6 Basic measurement methodology.4 7 Verification requirements for Digital Postage Marks.5 7.1 Verification equipment 5 7.2 Optical geometry.5 7.3 Light source 6 7.4 Measuring aperture .6
9、7.4.1 Measuring aperture for two-dimensional multi-row symbologies .7 7.4.2 Measuring aperture for two-dimensional matrix symbologies 7 7.5 Mail format7 8 Grading implications for individual symbol attributes8 9 Additional grading parameters - quiet zone 9 10 Qualification of printing systems for Di
10、gital Postage Marks .9 Annex A (normative) Test procedure for printing systems for Digital Postage Marks. 11 A.1 Environmental conditions for test . 11 A.2 Test materials 11 A.3 Test procedure 12 Annex B (informative) Light sources and spectral response characteristics for verification of Digital Po
11、stage Marks . 13 B.1 Narrow-band illumination 13 B.2 Broad-band illumination (white light) 13 B.2.1 Halogen lamps 14 B.2.2 Light emitting diode 14 B.2.3 Gas discharge lamp 14 B.2.4 Fluorescent lamps. 15 Annex C (informative) Symbol parameters measured in accordance with ISO/IEC 15415 . 16 C.1 Parame
12、ters for two-dimensional multi-row symbols. 16 C.2 Parameters for two-dimensional matrix symbologies. 17 Annex D (informative) Characteristics of Digital Postage Mark printing and reading environments that affect print quality 18 D.1 Printing of Digital Postage Marks 18 D.1.1 Ink-jet printing . 18 D
13、.1.2 Laser printing 18 D.1.3 Thermal transfer printing 19 D.1.4 Direct thermal printing 19 D.1.5 Matching X dimension to printer resolution 19 D.2 Reading environment 20 iiiINCITS/ISO/IEC 18050:20062008 ITIC 2008 All rights reservedAnnex E (informative) Possible causes of low parameter grades in the
14、 Digital Postage Mark environment 21 E.1 Multi-row symbologies21 E.1.1 Symbol Contrast21 E.1.2 Minimum reflectance .21 E.1.3 Minimum edge contrast .21 E.1.4 Modulation.21 E.1.5 Decode 22 E.1.6 Defects 22 E.1.7 Decodability.22 E.1.8 Codeword yield22 E.1.9 Unused error correction (UEC) 22 E.1.10 Quiet
15、 zone .22 E.1.11 Print growth.22 E.1.12 Codeword quality 23 E.2 Matrix symbologies.23 E.2.1 Symbol Contrast23 E.2.2 Fixed pattern damage23 E.2.3 Modulation.23 E.2.4 Axial non-uniformity 23 E.2.5 Grid non-uniformity .24 E.2.6 Unused error correction 24 E.2.7 Quiet zone .24 E.2.8 Print growth.24 Bibli
16、ography 25 iv INCITS/ISO/IEC 18050:20062008 ITIC 2008 All rights reservedForeword ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of ISO or IEC
17、 participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, gover
18、nmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1. International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Pa
19、rt 2. The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national
20、 bodies casting a vote. Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. ISO/IEC 18050 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1
21、, Information technology, Subcommittee SC 28, Office equipment. vINCITS/ISO/IEC 18050:20062008 ITIC 2008 All rights reservedIntroduction Digital Postage Marks (or franking marks), sometimes abbreviated to DPM, are used to evidence the payment of postage and/or other fees related to services requeste
22、d by mailers. Digital Postage Marks are represented by symbols imprinted on the envelope, the label or the insert. Digital Postage Marks produced by different vendors systems are generated with a variety of symbols and graphical images. The symbologies used for these images are primarily two-dimensi
23、onal bar codes of both multi-row (PDF417) and matrix types (e.g. Data Matrix), as specified in UPU standard S 28. However, postal operators may also use other symbologies, e.g. OCR or 4-state codes for these purposes. The two-dimensional bar code symbologies offer advantages for the machine-readable
24、 representation of data strings of the order of 80 or more bytes in length, due to their high information density characteristics. Public postal operators and private carriers have a high interest in automatically reading and validating these marks, preferably at high speed. These symbols must be re
25、ad reliably by postal processing equipment. The highest practicable read rate is desired by users of such equipment in order to ensure efficient automation of this process, and any shortfall in the read rate may have as its consequence a loss of revenue to the operator. This International Standard h
26、as been designed to customize the generic method of measuring the print quality of two-dimensional bar code symbols to the needs of the postal application and to recommend appropriate print quality levels that should contribute to the achievement of the read rates desired by the authorities responsi
27、ble for validation of the Digital Postage Marks and by postal operators; it is also intended to provide guidelines for printing machine readable Digital Postage Marks on mail items. This International Standard will provide mailers, postal operators and their suppliers with a practical, quantitative
28、and objective way to measure and communicate to each other basic print quality parameters of machine readable Digital Postage Marks. Since all attributes do not contribute uniformly to the readability of a Digital Postage Mark, this International Standard identifies five levels of criticality for an
29、 attribute (graded 0 to 4, in ascending order of quality), and a grading scheme that assesses the overall symbol quality based on averaging the results of multiple scans. The International Standard may be used in the following ways: It allows an estimate to be made of the readability of a Digital Po
30、stage Mark without actually submitting it to any postal validation and the qualification of said symbol as acceptable or not acceptable for readability purposes. It allows an estimate to be made of the quality levels potentially achievable by a printing system with particular substrates. This Intern
31、ational Standard applies the measurement methodology defined in ISO/IEC 15415 for print quality attributes that tend to influence the readability of two-dimensional bar codes. This methodology is derived from a view of the current state-of-the-art in two-dimensional bar code scanning technologies. Y
32、et, such a state-of-the-art is not a perfectly defined concept. First, it is likely to evolve with time towards improved recognition capabilities. Second, an automatic identification and data capture system is always the result of a compromise between recognition power and cost. This is why this Int
33、ernational Standard is expressed in the form of guidelines rather than prescriptions. However, it is not technically possible to define guidelines concerning solely the printing of Digital Postage Marks without taking into account the manufacturing of the mail item as a whole. The readability of the
34、 Digital Postage Mark is a function not only of the inherent quality of printing, i.e. the interaction of the ink, substrate and printing mechanism together with the effects of the shape of the mail-piece and its transport through the printing system on the production of the mark, but also of the ef
35、fects of environmental and handling factors in transit between the production point and the point at which it is to be read. For example, the symbol contrast of Digital Postage Marks is not only that provided by the printer/paper combination under defined illumination conditions. It also results fro
36、m a variety It provides a tool for process control in the operation of Digital Postage Mark printing systems. v i INCITS/ISO/IEC 18050:20062008 ITIC 2008 All rights reservedof other factors among which the covering of the mail item or the material of the transparent window through which the Digital
37、Postage Mark may be seen. As a consequence, the guidelines described in this International Standard apply to the Digital Postage Mark blocks of fully assembled mail items. It is the responsibility of the users of this International Standard to achieve compliance with the guidelines by controlling th
38、e effects of the physical elements resulting in the relevant attributes. The guidelines are primarily a tool for predicting the level of Digital Postage Mark readability with respect to current scanning technologies, and compliance with them should result in a high level of Digital Postage Mark read
39、ability. The guidelines are aimed at facilitating the relations between postal operators and customers, vendors of mail generation and printing equipment and suppliers of mail reading and sorting equipment. In particular, equipment vendors need firm and precise guidance in designing print systems an
40、d formats for machine readability. Therefore, a quantitative specification of print quality is critical to the development of products that meet the needs of mailers and postal operators. vii INCITS/ISO/IEC 18050:20062008 ITIC 2008 All rights reserved1Information technology Office equipment Print qu
41、ality attributes for machine readable Digital Postage Marks 1 Scope This International Standard: specifies a methodology for the measurement of defined print quality attributes of Digital Postage Marks in the form of two-dimensional bar code symbols on mail-pieces, defines methods for grading the re
42、sults of these measurements and deriving an overall symbol quality grade as a guide to estimating the readability of the Digital Postage Marks, provides guidelines for printing and gives information on possible causes of deviation from high grades to assist users in taking appropriate corrective act
43、ion, defines a test procedure for the assessment of printing systems for the production of Digital Postage Marks. These provisions apply to the Digital Postage Mark blocks as they appear on fully produced mail items when remitted to postal operators, including the characteristics resulting from oper
44、ations other than printing per se that affect their appearance to a mail processing system (covering, inserts into transparent window envelopes, affixed Digital Postage Mark labels). This International Standard does not define the qualification tests or sampling requirements necessary to determine t
45、he practical feasibility of any specific read rate. 2 Normative references print quality test specification Two-dimensional symbols ISO/IEC 15416:2000, Information technology Automatic identification and data capture techniques Bar code print quality test specification Linear symbols ISO/IEC 15419:2
46、001, Information technology Automatic identification and data capture techniques Bar code digital imaging and printing performance testing ISO/IEC 15426-2:2005, Information technology Automatic identification and data capture techniques Bar code verifier conformance specification Part 2: Two-dimensi
47、onal symbols. EN 1556:1996, Bar coding Terminology. AMAMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARD INCITS/ISO/IEC 18050:20062008The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of
48、 the referenced document (including any amendments) applies. ISO/IEC 15415:2004, Information technology Automatic identification and data capture techniques Bar code ITIC 2008 All rights reserved2 Universal Postal Union (UPU) standard S-28, Communication of Postal Information using Two-dimensional S
49、ymbols UPU standard S-36, Digital Postage Marks: Applications, Security and Design UPU standard S-44-1, Colour and Durability Attributes of Franking Marks 3 Terms and definitions For the purposes of this International Standard, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 15415, ISO/IEC 15416, EN 1556 and the following apply: 3.1 broad-band descriptive of illumination in which the spectral distribution of the light is wide, with a bandwidth in excess of 200 nm at the 50% p
