Re:The tiny chip that powers Montreal subway tickets
by lxgr on Sunday June 23, 2024 @11:28PM
(#40772469)
I find the plastic tokens quite clever, but QR codes are not a great option for mobile ticketing at transit gates: Often it takes people forever to pull up the code in the right orientation and dial up the brightness enough for the scan to work. Not something I love to deal with when I want to catch a train.
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Re:The tiny chip that powers Montreal subway tickets
by jimbobthrowawy on Monday June 24, 2024 @12:55AM
(#40772742)
If the QR code is in an app of some kind, any one I've seen maxes out the brightness while it's onscreen. Orientation data is built into QR codes anyway, so that's a problem with the reader.
Re:The tiny chip that powers Montreal subway tickets
by kumarvvr on Monday June 24, 2024 @01:57AM
(#40772953)
QR code reading does not depend on the orientation, at-least as per its spec. there are many apps and devices out there that can read a QR code in any orientation.
In the app that is used by me, the brightness of the screen is automatically increased by the app as soon as I open the ticket QR, and then reduces to its previous state, once the QR code display is removed.
Re:The tiny chip that powers Montreal subway tickets
by lxgr on Monday June 24, 2024 @09:49AM
(#40776040)
Not any orientation – if you present a QR code ticket the wrong way around, or even just angled away from the plane the reader focuses on too much, it doesn't work.
Contactless tickets work both ways, and in addition to that usually have a larger, more forgiving "landing area". On top of that, they can usually read through a wallet (but that's more relevant to regular commuters, arguably; tourists and infrequent riders will likely have purchased the ticket just moments before using it).