I saw many posts arguing the performance winner between open-source barcode SDKs – ZXing and ZBar. As an engineer, who is developing commercial barcode reader software for Dynamsoft, I am curious about which open source project is better, ZXing or ZBar? Considering ZXing is implemented in Java, whereas ZBar is implemented in C/C++. To fairly compare their performance, I decided to use JNI to wrap ZBar C/C++ source code and benchmark them in a Java program.
Prerequisites of Barcode SDK
ZXing Source code
https://github.com/zxing/zxing
ZBar Source Code
ZBar Windows Installer
http://sourceforge.net/projects/zbar/files/zbar/
How to Decode TIFF in Java
I need to use a dataset that includes many TIFF files for testing barcode reading performance. The Java Class ImageIO could read many image formats such as JPEG, PNG, BMP, but not TIFF. I searched Oracle’s Website and found Java Advanced Imaging (JAI) API, which provides methods for decoding TIFF files.
Where to download JAI jar packages?
I was surprised that the download links of Oracle official Website pointed to 404 error page. If you Google Java JAI, you may find there is no valid link on the first page of searching results. I patiently looked for download links page by page, and even changed the search engine. Luckily there is a working page existed: http://www.java2s.com/Code/Jar/j/Downloadjaicore113jar.htm. To make JAI work, you need to download jai_codec-1.1.3.jar and jai_core-1.1.3.jar. Here is the source code demonstrating how to read TIFF file to int[]:
File file = new File(fileName);
RenderedImage tiff = JAI.create("tiffload", fileName);
BufferedImage image = PlanarImage.wrapRenderedImage(tiff).getAsBufferedImage();
int[] pixels = image.getRGB(0, 0, image.getWidth(), image.getHeight(), null, 0, image.getWidth());
How to Read Multiple Barcodes of an Image with ZXing
Previously, I shared a post – How to Write and Read QR Code with ZXing in Java, which demonstrates how to read barcodes with MultiFormatReader. But MultiFormatReader only returns one result. What if we want to read multiple barcodes from an image, such as a document with code39, code93 and QR code? In this case, we need to use another reader class GenericMultipleBarcodeReader.
About GenericMultipleBarcodeReader:
Attempts to locate multiple barcodes in an image by repeatedly decoding portion of the image. After one barcode is found, the areas left, above, right and below the barcode’s ResultPoints are scanned, recursively.
To read multiple barcode results, you can write Java code as follows:
RGBLuminanceSource source = new RGBLuminanceSource(image.getWidth(),
image.getHeight(), pixels);
bitmap = new BinaryBitmap(new HybridBinarizer(source));
Map<DecodeHintType, Object> hints = new HashMap<DecodeHintType, Object>();
hints.put(DecodeHintType.TRY_HARDER, null);
Collection<BarcodeFormat> formats = new ArrayList<>();
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.QR_CODE);
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.CODABAR);
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.CODE_39);
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.CODE_93);
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.CODE_128);
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.EAN_8);
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.EAN_13);
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.ITF);
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.UPC_A);
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.UPC_E);
formats.add(BarcodeFormat.UPC_EAN_EXTENSION);
hints.put(DecodeHintType.POSSIBLE_FORMATS, formats);
MultiFormatReader reader = new MultiFormatReader();
// read multi barcodes
GenericMultipleBarcodeReader multiReader = new GenericMultipleBarcodeReader(
reader);
try {
Result[] results = multiReader.decodeMultiple(bitmap, hints);
System.out.println(ZXING + TIME_COST
+ ((System.nanoTime() - start) / 1000000) + MS);
if (results != null) {
for (Result result : results) {
System.out.println(ZXING + TYPE + result.getBarcodeFormat() + VALUE + result.getText());
}
}
} catch (NotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
return;
}
Creating Java Native Interface (JNI) for ZBar
How to use ZBar to decode barcodes in C/C++? If no idea, you can refer to the sample scan_image.cpp provided by ZBar in source code or installer. With a few changes, the JNI sample may be as follows:
#include <iostream>
#include <Magick++.h>
#include <zbar.h>
#include <jni.h>
#define STR(s) #s
using namespace std;
using namespace zbar;
#ifndef DEBUG
#define DEBUG(...) printf(__VA_ARGS__)
#endif
extern "C" {
JNIEXPORT jobjectArray JNICALL Java_com_dynamsoft_zbar_ZBarReader_decode(JNIEnv *env, jobject obj, jstring fileName);
}
JNIEXPORT jobjectArray JNICALL Java_com_dynamsoft_zbar_ZBarReader_decode(JNIEnv *env, jobject obj, jstring fileName)
{
const char *pszFileName = env->GetStringUTFChars(fileName, 0);
#ifdef MAGICK_HOME
// http://www.imagemagick.org/Magick++/
// under Windows it is necessary to initialize the ImageMagick
// library prior to using the Magick++ library
Magick::InitializeMagick(MAGICK_HOME);
#endif
// create a reader
ImageScanner scanner;
// configure the reader
scanner.set_config(ZBAR_NONE, ZBAR_CFG_ENABLE, 1);
// obtain image data
Magick::Image magick(pszFileName); // read an image file
int width = magick.columns(); // extract dimensions
int height = magick.rows();
Magick::Blob blob; // extract the raw data
magick.modifyImage();
magick.write(&blob, "GRAY", 8);
const void *raw = blob.data();
// wrap image data
Image image(width, height, "Y800", raw, width * height);
// scan the image for barcodes
int n = scanner.scan(image);
// find java class
jclass clsZBarResult = env->FindClass("com/dynamsoft/zbar/ZBarResult");
// create java array
int data_length = 0;
for (Image::SymbolIterator symbol = image.symbol_begin();
symbol != image.symbol_end();
++symbol) {
++data_length;
}
jobjectArray clsZBarResultArray = env->NewObjectArray(data_length, clsZBarResult, 0);
int iIndex = 0;
// extract results
for (Image::SymbolIterator symbol = image.symbol_begin();
symbol != image.symbol_end();
++symbol) {
// do something useful with results
//cout << "ZBR Type: " << symbol->get_type_name()
// << ", Value \"" << symbol->get_data() << '"' << endl;
// save result to java array
jmethodID init = env->GetMethodID(clsZBarResult, "<init>", "()V");
jobject clsZBarResultObj = env->NewObject(clsZBarResult, init);
jfieldID jType = env->GetFieldID(clsZBarResult, "mType", "Ljava/lang/String;");
jfieldID jValue = env->GetFieldID(clsZBarResult, "mValue", "Ljava/lang/String;");
env->SetObjectField(clsZBarResultObj, jType, env->NewStringUTF(symbol->get_type_name().c_str()));
env->SetObjectField(clsZBarResultObj, jValue, env->NewStringUTF(symbol->get_data().c_str()));
env->SetObjectArrayElement(clsZBarResultArray, iIndex, clsZBarResultObj);
++iIndex;
}
// clean up
image.set_data(NULL, 0);
// release string
env->ReleaseStringUTFChars(fileName, pszFileName);
return clsZBarResultArray;
}
I changed the main function to JNI method and packaged barcode results to Java objects. See the corresponding Java classes.
ZBarReader.java:
package com.dynamsoft.zbar;
import com.dynamsoft.utils.BaseReader;
public class ZBarReader extends BaseReader {
static {
System.loadLibrary("zbarjni");
}
public void testZBar(String fileName) {
long start = System.nanoTime();
ZBarReader reader = new ZBarReader();
ZBarResult[] results = (ZBarResult[])reader.decode(fileName);
System.out.println(ZBAR + TIME_COST
+ ((System.nanoTime() - start) / 1000000) + MS);
if (results != null && results.length > 0) {
mCount += 1;
for (ZBarResult result : results) {
System.out.println(ZBAR + TYPE + result.mType + VALUE + result.mValue);
}
}
}
@Override
public int getCount() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
return super.getCount();
}
public native Object[] decode(String fileName);
}
ZBarResult.java:
package com.dynamsoft.zbar;
public class ZBarResult {
public String mType;
public String mValue;
}
Benchmark Test between ZXing and ZBar
Dynamsoft and ZXing provide some testing image sets, you can get them from https://github.com/Dynamsoft/Dynamsoft-Barcode-Reader/tree/master/Images and https://github.com/zxing/zxing/tree/master/core/src/test/resources. To make results convincing, I used the testing images provided by ZXing: https://github.com/zxing/zxing/tree/master/core/src/test/resources/blackbox/qrcode-1 Here is the report:
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\1.png
ZXI Time cost: 122ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 33ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\10.png
ZXI Time cost: 66ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 28ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\11.png
ZXI Time cost: 53ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 29ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\12.png
ZXI Time cost: 71ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 29ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\13.png
ZXI Time cost: 84ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: http://google.com/gwt/n?u=bluenile.com
ZBA Time cost: 27ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: http://google.com/gwt/n?u=bluenile.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\14.png
com.google.zxing.NotFoundException
ZBA Time cost: 32ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: http://google.com/gwt/n?u=bluenile.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\15.png
ZXI Time cost: 90ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: http://google.com/gwt/n?u=bluenile.com
ZBA Time cost: 34ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: http://google.com/gwt/n?u=bluenile.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\16.png
ZXI Time cost: 77ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: Sean Owen
srowen@google.com
917-364-2918
http://awesome-thoughts.com
ZBA Time cost: 35ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: Sean Owen
srowen@google.com
917-364-2918
http://awesome-thoughts.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\17.png
ZXI Time cost: 82ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: Sean Owen
srowen@google.com
917-364-2918
http://awesome-thoughts.com
ZBA Time cost: 32ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: Sean Owen
srowen@google.com
917-364-2918
http://awesome-thoughts.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\18.png
ZXI Time cost: 80ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: Sean Owen
srowen@google.com
917-364-2918
http://awesome-thoughts.com
ZBA Time cost: 35ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: Sean Owen
srowen@google.com
917-364-2918
http://awesome-thoughts.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\19.png
ZXI Time cost: 64ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: Sean Owen
srowen@google.com
917-364-2918
http://awesome-thoughts.com
ZBA Time cost: 28ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: Sean Owen
srowen@google.com
917-364-2918
http://awesome-thoughts.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\2.png
ZXI Time cost: 61ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 28ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\20.png
ZXI Time cost: 55ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: Sean Owen
srowen@google.com
917-364-2918
http://awesome-thoughts.com
ZBA Time cost: 30ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: Sean Owen
srowen@google.com
917-364-2918
http://awesome-thoughts.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\3.png
ZXI Time cost: 56ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 29ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\4.png
ZXI Time cost: 70ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 28ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\5.png
ZXI Time cost: 64ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 28ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\6.png
ZXI Time cost: 56ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 28ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\7.png
ZXI Time cost: 73ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 30ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\8.png
ZXI Time cost: 55ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 27ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F:\resources\blackbox\qrcode-1\9.png
ZXI Time cost: 55ms
ZXI Type: QR_CODE, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
ZBA Time cost: 27ms
ZBA Type: QR-Code, value: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZXI passed: 19
ZBA passed: 20
According to the results, ZBar seems to be much better than ZXing when reading QR code. Because I only tested QRcode, the conclusion may not be accurate. If you are interested, you can try other datasets yourself.
Invalid e-mail address. Please use a format similar to: name@mail.com
You have successfully subscribed to Email Newsletter of Dynamsoft Products. Thank You!
Could you leave your email address? I’ll send possible solutions to you privately.
We are Edu group, not commercial identity. However, we can use what ever we want as long as the cost is low. What do you suggest that can meet our work flow as describe above?
QR is better than PDF417 and DataMatrix. The page you shared mentioned the issue is fixed in zbar’s source control repository. You can try to build it yourself. Dynamsoft Barcode SDK will support PDF file in next version. Are you interested in using commercial SDK?
Great post. Big fan of CLI. I have question and I hope you can help me out. Scope: We generate exams (4 pages each exam booklet) with QR code (which store only student number) so we can email the exam individually to each student. Process: After all the exams marked and scan (@300dpi) save as one big PDF file. We then use pdftk to separate the PDF file back to individual exam (1.pdf, 2.pdf, n.pdf). Next, use Zbar to scan QR code in each pdf files, out put the result with student number from QR code and n.pdf file name pair in a CSV text file. Next use mailx parse the CSV file and our student list which contain student number and email. Once the 2 CSV match, email sent.
Issue: I read old post that pdf is not easy for Zbar to read and jpeg has issue. http://www.rubydoc.info/gems/zbar/0.2.0/ZBar/JPEG
What is your suggestion for using Zbar to out put CSV file from individual PDF? Is PDF417 or DataMatrix better for our workflow?
Thanks
Francis