- I know that magnetic stripes used in credit cards and audio tapes are typically read by a magnetic reader head. But is it theoretically possible for the stripe to be read by a laser in a similar fashion to a barcode scanner?
I also heard of technologies like magnetic secure transmission by Samsung that emulate the magnetic stripe within 3 inches of a card reader. I'm guessing the smartphone or device that does the MSE is using more power to ensure the magnetic field reaches the card reader's reader head from a distance of 3 inches.
- I'm curious about the opposite. Could a magnetic reader head theoretically read a magnetic stripe with a gap distance (even a very small gap say 0.01mm) or without physically touching the magnetic stripe? Or is the magnetic field generated by the magnetic reader head too weak to handle any gap between the reader head and the magnetic stripe?