Bitcoin Forum

I just realized something when i was browsing iamsatoshi.com.

This is their donation address:

http://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=150x150&cht=qr&chld=H|0&chl=bitcoin:1NkMgKPdwP63q5LFQW84dczJthFWYLwkoW?label=Donation-from%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.iamsatoshi.com%2Fconsensus-algorithms-blockchain-technology-and-bitcoin%2F&message=Donation-from%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.iamsatoshi.com%2Fconsensus-algorithms-blockchain-technology-and-bitcoin%2F

http://www.iamsatoshi.com/


https://blockchain.info/qr?data=1CYnbah4Ce7nyjmi8JWUBLXj51XQUHA8UV&size=200

https://blockchain.info/address/1CYnbah4Ce7nyjmi8JWUBLXj51XQUHA8UV

And this is a random address of blockchain.info

Why are they so different? they are both regular bitcoin addresses as far as I know, yet their QR codes look like they arent the same format or something.

edit: i cant directly post the pics for some reason, just browse down in http://www.iamsatoshi.com/
 to see the donation address on the right

The first code:
https://i.imgur.com/KOjToYT.png
has much more content, this to be exact:
89 chars

While the second contains just the address, for example using the same address:
https://i.imgur.com/fQDE8sb.png
34 chars

As a result the first code is of a higher version (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code#Storage) so it can hold more information.

This is the right explanation.
But I thought, QR code has so many types. That's why those look different :D

More specifically, the first contains a standard URI, and most QR code readers will recognise it as such and automatically pass the data to whatever the default program is for that protocol (in this case, whatever Bitcoin wallet (if any) you have installed). The second contains a bare Bitcoin address, which will not be understood by non-Bitcoin software.