scanner

(also optical scanner), n. ComputingA device used to transform an analog image into a raster graphic. A device capable of reading and converting a coded pattern into alphanumeric data.

Notes

A scanner1 may be used to capture pictures or text. Scanned text may be parsed using optical character recognition (OCR) software to turn it into character data. - A scanner2 designed to read bar codes generates character data rather than an image.