Setting or Learning ECC Level (Data Matrix only)

This section discusses the criteria that you can use to decide between setting the ECC level for Data Matrix symbols or having the tool learn the ECC level. The QR Code symbology supports four levels of Reed-Solomon encoding. It also explicitly supports level detection, eliminating the need to set the ECC level for decoding.

The Data Matrix symbology supports two Error Checking and Correction (ECC) methods, convolutional coding for ECC 000, 050, 080, 100, and 140 and Reed-Solomon encoding for ECC 200. A higher ECC level allows data recovery despite an increasing amount of damaged or unreadable symbol area, but it also reduces the number of codewords that a symbol of a given size can hold.

The ECC level is part of the symbol model. You can specify the expected ECC level or have the tool learn it. If you know the ECC level beforehand, setting it eliminates the processing required to detect it. Otherwise, you should have the tool learn the ECC level.