BizSugar.com › Marketing › Drilling Down: Ways to Use QR Codes - NYTimes.com

Q: What are the differences between QR codes and bar codes?

A: Traditional bar codes — like the ones you see in the supermarket — are linear, one-dimensional bar codes that can typically only hold about 20 alphanumeric characters in its code. A QR code is two-dimensional and can hold thousands of alphanumeric characters, making it much more useful for business use. The QR code allows for encoding more complex information such as links to Web sites, V-cards and longer strings of text.