Beverage capsule system with code area and code-free area

A machine for preparing a beverage and/or foodstuff or a precursor thereof from a container containing precursor material,

• the container including:
• a code encoding a binary sequence to at least partially encode preparation information,
• the machine including:
• a code reading system to read the code;
• a processing unit for processing the precursor material of the container;
• and
• electrical circuitry to control the processing unit based on the preparation information,
• wherein the electrical circuitry is configured to:
• read the code to obtain a code read;
• determine a characteristic of a neighbouring non-code portion in proximity of a code portion of the code read;
• and
• correct an associated characteristic of the code portion based on the determined characteristic of the neighbouring non-code portion to account for variations of the characteristic in the non-code portion.

A method of determining preparation information for processing precursor material, wherein the preparation information is at least partially encoded by a code, the method comprising:

• acquiring a reading of the code to obtain a code read;
• determining a characteristic of a neighbouring non-code portion in proximity of a code portion of the code read;
• and
• correcting an associated characteristic of the code portion based on the determined characteristic of the neighbouring non-code portion to account for variations of the characteristic in the non-code portion.