card reader
The term card readers is used equally for readers of contact and contactless smart cards, for loyalty cards with bar codes and for magnetic cards, but also for the various memory cards.
- Card readers are needed for reading the standardized plastic cards such as the chip card, smart card or magnetic card. They are also called chip card terminals or smart card readers and are placed in stores and at bank counters or integrated into ATMs. Card readers operate without a keyboard, but can use one to enter identification features. In terms of design, there are card readers where the magnetic stripe of the smart card is pulled through a slot. These readers are called slot card scanners or slot readers. In addition to readers for contact smart cards, there are also readers for contactless smart cards such as RFID cards. The readers for PICC cards are called Proximity Coupling Device( PCD), those for VICC cards Vicinity Coupling Device( VCD).
- Readers for memory cards are also referred to as card readers. Since the various memory cards are not standardized and are incompatible with each other, there are card readers that can read multiple flash memories with their different interfaces. The card reader can be part of a notebook or a printer, but it can also be a stand-alone device that connects directly to the personal computer ( PC) via a PC/ SC interface or a USB interface. The folders or image files created on the memory card are displayed on the PC screen.
