User guide

28 Magnetic Stripe

If you are encoding cards with data already on a particular track, the track can be

turned off using the Printer Manager. See“WebAdmin Access Level” for more

information.

About the Data Format

A magnetic stripe data format defines the data (characters) that can be encoded,

the density of the data, the number of bits per character, and control codes. The

data format also specifies the location of the track and the number of tracks. The

data format specified for the three-track card by ISO standard 7811 is the default

value used by the printer with a three-track magnetic stripe module installed. The

standard allows two coercivity values (HiCo and LoCo); the printer uses high

coercivity (HiCo or 150 mA) by default.

The Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) Type II includes specifications for

encoding Unicode Katakana characters. It uses a single track and specifies

physical characteristics.

The illustration shows several features

of a card that meets the JIS Type II

standard:

• The printer with a single-track

magnetic stripe module uses the

format specified by the JIS Type II

standard as the default. This

standard includes three coercivity

values, and the default coercivity

for the single-track head is 50 mA

(NTT 1 in the driver). Both types of magnetic stripe head can use all coercivity

settings supported for the printer.

• You can set the data format, coercivity, location of data, and other values.

Some formats meet standards set by organizations that retain rights to the

format (proprietary formats). You can also set values not specified by a

standard, called a “custom format.” When you create a custom format, it is

important to record the values used, because they cannot be retrieved for use

in another printer.

• Control codes for a data format include the start sentinel, end sentinel, parity

bit, and check digit for each track. See “Magnetic Stripe Settings Used by

the Printer” for default control codes and other values for the formats. See

“Magnetic Stripe Formats” for allowed characters for default formats.