It's the same chip that's used in vending machines to scan dollar bills.
To my knowledge, vending machines don't do optical recognition. They have a pair of photo-sensors, it's true, but these are used in conjunction with tractors only to measure the bill. Another sensor decodes the magnetic ink to determine validity and denomination. I saw this demonstrated recently on a PBS science program. Scott Collins | "Few people realize what tremendous power there | is in one of these things." -- Willy Wonka ......................|................................................ BUSINESS. voice:408.862.0540 fax:974.6094 collins@newton.apple.com Apple Computer, Inc. 5 Infinite Loop, MS 305-2B Cupertino, CA 95014 ....................................................................... PERSONAL. voice/fax:408.257.1746 1024:669687 catalyst@netcom.com