Dirt, paint and other opaque substances do not affect the tags readability. Non-metallic objects can come between the reader and electronic labels without response interference. Metal, however, affects all RF systems. Some RFID technologies do function much more successfully than others in highly metallic environments. RFID tags can be used on people, places, things and animals.
Tags come in a wide variety of designs and price points suited to the application.
Another choice is among high, medium or low frequency. High-frequency tags can transfer data faster and can have a longer range than low frequency. Low-frequency systems experience less environmental interference and are omnidirectionally readable. Like many bar code systems, the ID numbers contained in the tags gain significance when correlated to a database. Once an item is identified, a computer can instruct a machine what action to perform on the item.