Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a method for identifying printed characters on a package surface. OCR is ideal for variable text fields, where it may not be possible to know what text string will be on the production line. The tool compares a given character image against all the characters in a pre-defined font to find the closest match.
Optical Character Verification (OCV), on the other hand, is looking for a pre-defined value – it is used to check for the accuracy of a code rather than determine what a code is.
OCV and OCR technology can be used in manufacturing facilities for quality checks - for example, as part of a product inspection program that includes package data quality inspection in the food and beverage industry. Machine vision inspection manufacturers such as METTLER TOLEDO CI-Vision offer vision inspection systems with OCV and OCR capabilities for printed data and code verification requirements.