1、DRAFT FOR DEVELOPMENT DD CEN/TS 14826:2004 Postal services Automatic identification of items Two dimensional bar code symbol print quality specification for machine readable Digital Postage Marks ICS 03.240; 35.040 DD CEN/TS 14826:2004 This Draft for Development was published under the authority of
2、the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 23 November 2004 BSI 23 November 2004 ISBN 0 580 44846 0 National foreword This Draft for Development is the official English language version of CEN/TS 14826:2004. This publication is not to be regarded as a British Standard. It is being issued in the
3、Draft for Development series of publications and is of a provisional nature because experience is required in its application before it is converted to a European and hence British Standard. It should be applied on this provisional basis, so that information and experience of its practical applicati
4、on may be obtained. Comments arising from the use of this Draft for Development are requested so that UK experience can be reported to the European organization responsible for its conversion to a European Standard. A review of this publication will be initiated 2 years after its publication by the
5、European organization so that a decision can be taken on its status at the end of its 3-year life. Notification of the start of the review period will be made in an announcement in the appropriate issue of Update Standards. According to the replies received by the end of the review period, the respo
6、nsible BSI Committee will decide whether to support the conversion into a European Standard, to extend the life of the Technical Specification or to withdraw it. Comments should be sent in writing to the Secretary of BSI Technical Committee SVS/4, Postal services, at British Standards House, 389 Chi
7、swick High Road, London W4 4AL, giving the document reference and clause number and proposing, where possible, an appropriate revision of the text. A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary. Cross-references The British Standards which implemen
8、t international or European publications referred to in this document may be found in the BSI Catalogue under the section entitled “International Standards Correspondence Index”, or by using the “Search” facility of the BSI Electronic Catalogue or of British Standards Online. Summary of pages This d
9、ocument comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, the CEN/TS title page, pages 2 to 31 and a back cover. The BSI copyright notice displayed in this document indicates when the document was last issued. Amendments issued since publication Amd. No. Date CommentsTECHNICALSPECIFICATION SPCIFICATIO
10、NTECHNIQUE TECHNISCHESPEZIFIKATION CEN/TS14826 August2004 ICS03.240;35.040 Englishversion PostalservicesAutomaticidentificationofitemsTwo dimensionalbarcodesymbolprintqualityspecificationfor machinereadableDigitalPostageMarks ServicespostauxIdentificationautomatiquedesobjets postauxMesuredelaqualitd
11、impression PostalischeDienstleistungenAutomatischeIdentifizierung vonSendungenDruckqualittvonzweidimensionalen StrichcodesfrDigitaleFreimachungsvermerke ThisTechnicalSpecification(CEN/TS)wasapprovedbyCENon23March2004forprovisionalapplication. TheperiodofvalidityofthisCEN/TSislimitedinitiallytothreey
12、ears.AftertwoyearsthemembersofCENwillberequested tosubmittheir comments,particularlyonthequestionwhethertheCEN/TScanbeconvertedintoaEuropeanStandard. CENmembersarerequiredtoannouncetheexistenceofthisCEN/TSinthesamewayasforanENandtomaketheCEN/TSavailable promptlyatnationallevelinanappropriateform.Iti
13、spermissibletokeepconflictingnationalstandardsinforce(inparall eltotheCEN/TS) untilthefinaldecisionaboutthepossibleconversionoftheCEN/TSintoanENisreached. CENmembersarethenationalstandardsbodiesofAustria,Belgium,Cyprus,CzechRepublic,Denmark,Estonia,Finland,France, Germany,Greece,Hungary,Iceland,Irel
14、and,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Malta,Netherlands,Norway,Poland,Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia,Spain,Sweden,SwitzerlandandUnitedKingdom. EUROPEANCOMMITTEEFORSTANDARDIZATION COMITEUROPENDENORMALISATION EUROPISCHESKOMITEEFRNORMUNG ManagementCentre:ruedeStassart,36B1050Brussels 2004CEN Allrightsofe
15、xploitationinanyformandbyanymeansreserved worldwideforCENnationalMembers. Ref.No.CEN/TS14826:2004:ECEN/TS 14826: 2004 (E) 2 Contents Foreword4 Introduction .5 1 Scope7 2 Normative references7 3 Terms and definitions .8 4 Symbols and abbreviations 9 5 Requirements.9 6 Basic measurement methodology .1
16、0 7 Verification requirements for Digital Postage Marks.11 7.1 Verification equipment11 7.2 Optical geometry11 7.3 Light source.11 7.4 Measuring aperture12 7.4.1 Measuring aperture for two-dimensional multi-row symbologies12 7.4.2 Measuring aperture for two-dimensional matrix symbologies .13 7.5 Mai
17、l format13 8 Grading implications for individual symbol attributes 13 9 Additional grading parameters - Quiet zone.16 10 Qualification of printing systems for Digital Postage Marks 16 Annex A (normative) Test procedure for printing systems for Digital Postage Marks17 A.1 Environmental conditions for
18、 test .17 A.2 Test materials.17 A.3 Test procedure.18 Annex B (informative) Light sources and spectral response characteristics for verification of Digital Postage Marks19 B.1 Narrow-band illumination.19 B.2 Broad-band illumination (white light) 19 B.2.1 General19 B.2.2 Halogen lamps.20 B.2.3 Light
19、emitting diode.20 B.2.4 Gas discharge lamp.20 B.2.5 Fluorescent lamps.21 Annex C (informative) Symbol parameters measured in accordance with ISO/IEC 1541522 C.1 Parameters for two-dimensional multi-row symbols.22 C.2 Parameters for two-dimensional matrix symbologies.23 Annex D (informative) Characte
20、ristics of Digital Postage Mark printing and reading environments that affect print quality24 D.1 Printing of Digital Postage Marks 24 D.1.1 Ink-jet printing24 D.1.2 Laser printing.24 D.1.3 Thermal transfer printing 24 D.1.4 Direct thermal printing 25 D.1.5 Matching X dimension to printer resolution
21、 .25 D.2 Reading environment26 Annex E (informative) Possible causes of low parameter grades in the Digital Postage Mark environment .27 CEN/TS 14826: 2004 (E) 3 E.1 Multi-row symbologies27 E.1.1 Symbol Contrast27 E.1.2 Minimum reflectance.27 E.1.3 Minimum edge contrast 27 E.1.4 Modulation27 E.1.5 D
22、ecode28 E.1.6 Defects28 E.1.7 Decodability.28 E.1.8 Codeword yield28 E.1.9 Unused error correction (UEC) 28 E.1.10 Quiet zone28 E.1.11 Print growth28 E.1.12 Codeword quality.29 E.2 Matrix symbologies.29 E.2.1 Symbol Contrast29 E.2.2 Fixed pattern damage29 E.2.3 Modulation29 E.2.4 Axial non-uniformit
23、y29 E.2.5 Grid non-uniformity.29 E.2.6 Unused error correction30 E.2.7 Quiet zone30 E.2.8 Print growth30 Bibliography31 CEN/TS 14826: 2004 (E) 4 Foreword This document (CEN/TS 14826:2004) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 331 “Postal Services“, the secretariat of which is held by NEN.
24、This document includes a Bibliography. Organisations contributing to the development of the document include: Universal Postal Union ISO/IEC JTC1/SC28 “Office equipment“ ISO/IEC JTC1/SC31 “Automatic identification and data capture techniques“ It is intended that this document should be adopted by IS
25、O/IEC JTC1/SC28, in the work programme of which the project has been assigned project number ISO/IEC NP 18050. For compatibility between CEN and UPU versions of this document, the term document is used. In a CEN context, this should be interpreted as being equivalent to the deliverable mentioned on
26、the title page of this document. In a UPU context, this should be interpreted as being equivalent to standard. According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to announce this Technical Specification : Austria, Belgium, Cyp
27、rus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. CEN/TS 14826: 2004 (E) 5 Introduction Digital Pos
28、tage Marks (or franking marks), sometimes abbreviated to DPM, are used to evidence the payment of postage and/or other fees related to services requested by mailers. Digital Postage Marks are represented by symbols imprinted on the envelope, the label or the insert. Digital Postage Marks produced by
29、 different vendors systems are generated with a variety of symbols and graphical images. The symbologies used for these images are primarily two-dimensional bar codes of both multi-row (PDF417) and matrix types (e.g. Data Matrix), as specified in UPU standard S28. However, postal operators can also
30、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 representation of data strings of the order of 80 or more bytes in length, due to their high information density characteristics. Public postal oper
31、ators and private carriers in Europe have a high interest in automatically reading and validating these marks, preferably at high speed. It is essential that these symbols are read reliably by postal processing equipment. The highest practicable read rate is desired by users of such equipment in ord
32、er to ensure efficient automation of this process, and any shortfall in the read rate can have as its consequence a loss of revenue to the operator. This document has been designed to customise the generic method of measuring the print quality of two- dimensional bar code symbols to the needs of the
33、 postal application and to recommend appropriate print quality levels that should contribute to the achievement of the read rates desired by the authorities responsible for validation of the Digital Postage Marks and by postal operators; it is also intended to provide guidelines for printing machine
34、 readable Digital Postage Marks on mail items. The Technical Specification will provide mailers, postal operators and their suppliers with a practical, quantitative, and objective way to measure and communicate to each other basic print quality parameters of machine readable Digital Postage Marks. S
35、ince all attributes do not contribute uniformly to the readability of a Digital Postage Mark, the Technical Specification identifies five levels of criticality for an attribute (graded 0 to 4, in ascending order of quality), and a grading scheme that assesses the overall symbol quality based on aver
36、aging the results of multiple scans. The Technical Specification can be used in the following ways: it allows an estimate to be made of the readability of a Digital Postage Mark without actually submitting it to any postal validation and the qualification of said symbol as acceptable or not acceptab
37、le for readability purposes. it allows an estimate to be made of the quality levels potentially achievable by a printing system with particular substrates it provides a tool for process control in the operation of Digital Postage Mark printing systems. The Technical Specification applies the measure
38、ment 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. Yet, such a state-of-the-art is not a
39、 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 the Technical Specification is expressed in
40、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 Digital Postage Mark is a function
41、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 effects of environmental and handling
42、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 from a variety of other factors among w
43、hich the covering of the mail item or the material of the transparent window through which the Digital Postage Mark can be seen. As a consequence, the guidelines described in this document apply to the Digital Postage Mark blocks of fully assembled mail items. It CEN/TS 14826: 2004 (E) 6 is the resp
44、onsibility of the users of the Technical Specification to achieve compliance with the guidelines by controlling the 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
45、current scanning technologies, and compliance with them should result in a high level of Digital Postage Mark readability. 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 an
46、d sorting equipment. In particular, equipment vendors need firm and precise guidance in designing print systems and 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
47、. CEN/TS 14826: 2004 (E) 7 1 Scope This document: 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 results of these measurements and deriving an ove
48、rall 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 action, 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 result
