Reading and verifying the text printed on a product —batch, expiry, reference— is key to traceability and regulatory compliance. Two technologies make it possible in-line: OCR and OCV. With artificial intelligence, both gain robustness against difficult prints. Let’s look at what they are and how they differ.
What OCR is
OCR (optical character recognition) converts the text in an image into machine-readable characters. It is the technology that “reads” what’s printed. You can review the general concept in the OCR article on Wikipedia.
What OCV is
OCV (optical character verification) doesn’t read to find out what it says, but checks that what’s printed is correct and legible: that the batch and date match what’s expected and that print quality is acceptable. OCR answers “what does it say?”; OCV answers “is it correct?”.
What artificial intelligence adds
Real-world prints are hard: variable backgrounds, curved surfaces, low-contrast inks, deformed characters. AI models learn to read and verify under these conditions far better than classic OCR, reducing failed reads and false rejects.
Applications
Batch and expiry verification in food and pharma, reference reading in logistics, marking control on industrial parts. In every case, ensuring the text is correct and legible protects traceability.
At AIS Vision Systems we read and verify text with OptiCAIS, advanced OCR reading powered by AI. Tell us what you need to read or verify.