FAQ - Differences between ISO/IEC 15415/15416 and GS1 – The "30,000 foot view”

The purpose of this FAQ is to explain, in very broad terms, the differences between “ISO” and “GS1” application standards in relation to OMRON LVS barcode verifiers.

Q: What are ISO/IEC 15415/15416 and GS1?

A: Let's define the commonly-used terms:

    “ISO”: Generally refers to the ISO15415 (2D Barcode Verification) and ISO15416 (1D Barcode Verification)     Standards created by the International Standards Organization, and often interchangeably.

    “GS1”: Refers specifically to the “GS1 General Specification” standard created by the GS1 organization.

Q: What are the differences between ISO/IEC 15415/15416 and GS1?

A: “ISO standards” deal exclusively with verification for print quality ONLY, specifically for printed labels. The data encoded in a barcode symbol being verified is essentially irrelevant when using “ISO/IEC 15415/15416.” This standard should be selected when only the physical condition of the symbol is desired to be evaluated and verified against the universally-accepted ISO standards.

“GS1” is first and foremost a data formatting standard. This means that, unlike “ISO”, the data and the format in which it is encoded is the primary concern of GS1 General Specification. GS1 allows for the use of many different barcode symbologies, but it requires that a given data string must be encoded in the same GS1 format/order regardless of which symbology is carrying the data. “GS1” does also include print quality verification as part of its requirements, however it simply specifies the use of existing print quality verification standards such as ISO/IEC 15415/15416 or TR29158. “GS1” should be selected only to verify that a specifically GS1-formatted symbol has its data formatted correctly.

Date/Revision History

2/2/2022, V1.0

Author:

Troy Shaw, Technical Support Specialist

References

ISO/IEC 15415

ISO/IEC 15416

GS1 General Specifications