How does a QR code work?
A QR code is a grid of dark and light squares that stand for ones and zeros. Three corner markers let a camera find and orient it, and built-in error correction lets a damaged code still scan.
Transcript
How can black and white squares hold a web address? Your phone reads them in a blink.
A QR code is a grid of tiny squares. Dark means one, light means zero.
Three large corner squares show the camera where the code is and which way it faces. So any angle works.
The phone turns those squares into bits, then into text, like a link. Extra data is added too, for error correction.
That lets a code still scan when part is dirty or damaged. At the highest level, about thirty percent can be restored.
A QR code is a pattern of squares, with built-in backup, that any camera can read.
Source notes
- DENSO WAVE, “What is a QR Code?” — Supplied with the topic. Overview from the company that created the QR code.
- DENSO WAVE, “Error correction feature” — Supplied with the topic. Explains how error correction lets a dirty or damaged code be read, and how a correction level is chosen.
How this example was made
Made with the prototype on 7 October 2026. The topic and references were typed in, a 45-second length and the whiteboard style were chosen, and the script and storyboard were written by Claude through the team’s subscription. We checked the script against the supplied pages. About 30% recovery is the standard figure for the highest level (H). Simplifications: the encoding also uses modes, masking and format information, and a code can hold data other than links. The narration is the built-in voice, and the video was rendered at 1080×1920 and 30 fps.