At barKoder, we're committed to pushing the boundaries of performance and reliability when it comes to barcode and document scanning. And today, we’re excited to share a major improvement that brings real results to your applications:
Our MRZ (Machine Readable Zone) scanner is now up to 2x faster than before.
Whether you're scanning passports, ID cards, or visas, you'll notice a clear boost in speed and responsiveness — especially on mobile and embedded devices. This performance leap means faster user interactions, smoother workflows, and less time spent waiting for results.
What Is MRZ and Why Does It Matter?
MRZ stands for Machine Readable Zone, and it’s the block of text found at the bottom of documents like:
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Passports
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National IDs
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Visas
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Residence permits
These zones contain critical data like document numbers, nationality, name, and date of birth, all encoded in a structured, OCR-readable format.
MRZ scanning needs to be fast, reliable, and error-free, especially in high-throughput environments like airports, government institutions, or mobile verification platforms.
What’s New in Our Latest MRZ Engine?
We’ve made significant internal improvements to the MRZ recognition pipeline, including:
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Optimized OCR performance, reducing decoding time by up to 50%
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Better handling on lower-end or mobile devices
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Improved stability and recognition in variable lighting conditions
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Enhanced edge detection and cropping accuracy for MRZ zones
With these upgrades, MRZ scanning in your app feels near-instant—even on devices with modest processing power.
Real-World Results
In our latest tests:
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MRZ scan time dropped from an average of 600ms to under 300ms
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Success rates remained above 99.5% even in low-light or tilted-camera scenarios
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Works seamlessly alongside barcode scanning in multi-mode environments
Whether you’re scanning a single passport or processing dozens per minute, this speed improvement has real-world impact.
How to Get the Update
The improved MRZ scanner is available now in the latest version of the barKoder SDK, including:
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Android
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iOS
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.NET MAUI
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Xamarin
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Flutter
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React
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Flutter
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Cordova
Download the latest version from our official repository
To start using the improved MRZ scanner, no special configuration is required—just update to the latest SDK and enjoy the performance boost out of the box.
Final Thoughts
We know that every millisecond counts—especially in time-sensitive or high-volume scanning environments. This MRZ performance upgrade is just one of the many ways we’re continuously evolving to support your real-world needs.
As always, we’d love to hear how it’s working for you. Try it out and let us know your feedback—we’re listening, and we’re building barKoder to be better every day.
You can also check out our blog post, where we compare MRZ scanning performance with other barcode scanner SDKs. See how barKoder stands out in speed, accuracy, and reliability.