Nowadays in life, QR codes can be found everywhere. Information acquisition, website redirection, checkout payment...... One scan of the QR code and you're done. However, a statement has recently appeared on the Internet, "According to incomplete statistics, the global use of QR codes is as high as more than 10 billion every day, and it will soon be used up".
How exactly are QR codes generated? How many versions are there? Will it really run out?
1
What is a QR code?
Two-dimensional code, also known as two-dimensional barcode, is a specific geometric figure, according to a certain law in the plane (two-dimensional direction) distribution, black and white, recording data symbol information graphics; In the code compilation, the concept of "0" and "1" bit streams, which form the basis of the internal logic of the computer, is cleverly used, and a number of geometric shapes corresponding to the binary are used to represent the numerical information of the text, and the information is automatically processed by the image input device or the photoelectric scanning device to realize the automatic processing of the information.
Experts said that the two-dimensional code has the characteristics of large storage, high confidentiality, high tracking, strong damage resistance, low cost, etc., and is especially suitable for forms, security and confidentiality, tracking, licenses, inventory, data backup, etc.
When did QR codes start to be commonly used for payments in the mainland?
Continental's research on QR code technology began in 1993.
- On August 3, 2016, the Payment and Clearing Association of China issued the Barcode Payment Business Specification (Draft for Comments) to payment institutions, which clearly pointed out the security standards that payment institutions need to follow to carry out barcode business;
- On December 25, 2017, the People's Bank of China issued the Barcode Payment Business Specification (Trial Implementation), which came into effect on April 1, 2018. This is the first time that the central bank has officially recognized the status of QR code payment since it stopped QR code payment in 2014.
Since then, QR code payment has gradually entered thousands of households.
2
How many combinations are there in the matrix of a QR code? Will it run out?
Recently, it has been rumored on the Internet that "the global average daily consumption of QR codes is 10 billion", so some people are worried that the QR code will be used up one day?
In this regard, experts explained that at present, there is no very accurate statistics on the consumption of QR codes, even if it is calculated according to the global average daily consumption of 10 billion, it is necessary to calculate how many combinations of the matrix of QR codes there are in order to know whether the QR code will really be used up by humans.
Theoretically, there is a limit to the variation of the arrangement and combination of black and white squares in a fixed area, and when the stored data exceeds the capacity limit, the QR code will be used up. However, in practice, the capacity of QR codes is usually very large, far exceeding the amount of data we usually need to store.
Take the usual WeChat payment code as an example, there are 25×25 that is, 625 small squares in the QR code matrix, in addition to some squares with functions such as positioning and error correction, there are 478 squares left, each square has two colors, black and white, which can form 2 of 478 different QR codes.
Let's say that 10 billion payment QR codes are used every day and 3,650 billion in a year, and it is calculated that it will take 2.14×10¹³¹ years to use all the payment QR codes. Since the birth of the universe, it has only been 13.7 billion years, or 137×10¹º years, which is far less than the time to run out of payment QR codes. So, we don't need to worry about QR codes running out anytime soon.
3
Police tip: QR code or hidden trap Do not scan the code easily
The development of technology will also bring us some new troubles. Experts suggest that, theoretically, the QR code itself will not carry the virus, but many virus software can use the QR code to download, and the QR code technology has become a new channel for the spread of mobile phone viruses and phishing websites.
According to the police, scanning the QR code sometimes swipes out the link, prompting you to download software, and some software may contain viruses. Some of these viruses will affect mobile phones and tablets after downloading and installing; There are also some viruses that are fee-absorbing Trojans disguised as applications by criminals, and once downloaded, they will cause the mobile phone to automatically send messages and deduct a large amount of phone bills. Therefore, the QR code from an unknown source should not be scanned easily.
Source: This article is reprinted from the WeChat public account "CCTV News" (ID: cctvnewscenter), the original article was first published on June 23, 2024, titled ""10 billion used up in a day", will the QR code really be used up? 》。