Composite Symbologies

A composite symbology consists of two different symbologies that are combined and linked together to encode different parts of a given data stream by using more than one encoding scheme. Generally, a linear or two-dimensional (2-D) symbol is placed beneath another 2-D symbol to capture different types of information. For example, a product identification number is encoded in a linear symbol, and supplementary information, such as an expiration date, is encoded in a 2-D symbol that is linked to the linear symbol.

Among the advantages of composite symbologies is their ability to encode a variety of data in a variety of formats and to encode large amounts of data in a relatively small space.

Currently, the GS1 composite symbologies are the most commonly used, but other composite symbologies have been developed and are still supported, such as TLC 39.