Far more complex two-dimensional codes carry enough data to reconstruct a photo.

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Digital systems, which process pixels one at a time, have to translate the two-dimensional image into a one-dimensional stream of data.

ECONOMIST: Analogue computing

The data storage industry has always been two-dimensional, racing to jam more bits onto the surfaces of magnetic tape, CDs or DVDs.

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The chip is a graphics accelerator, a specialized supercomputer of sorts that handles the flood of data needed to create moving two- and three-dimensional images.

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