This paper describes a case study to identify the various parameters that affect the scanning reliability of 2D barcodes for high content density applications. A review of the numerous options for 2D symbologies showed that, in theory, these symbologies are capable of encoding relatively large amounts of data, but in practice, barcode scan-ability decreases as the encoded content increases. With specific attention to higher content (or capacity) applications, a case study was performed to identify the 2D symbologies with the highest scanning reliability, to be termed “scan-ability,” as well as the various parameters that impact this scan-ability. The paper is divided into four logical sections. The introduction section covers the goal and the specific requirements of the project. Section 2 discusses in detail the various parameters that impact the scan reliability of high-capacity 2D barcodes. Section 3 focuses on the testing methodology employed and Section 4 summarizes the conclusions of the detailed testing. Based on our requirements, our findings indicated that the best three scan reliability measurements of 96%–99% were all obtained using the PDF417 symbology with different media types and scanners.