QR code size depends on encoding mode before pixel dimensions

An argument about QR code sizing holds that the encoder's mode choice should be considered first, since it determines how many bits each character consumes and therefore which symbol version is required. Numeric, alphanumeric, byte and kanji modes each carry different per-character costs, and non-Latin text usually falls into byte mode, where UTF-8 encoding inflates the count. A concrete example shows that lowercasing a URL's host forces a larger version, while uppercasing the scheme and host is safe under RFC 3986. Higher error-correction levels recover more damaged codewords but reduce data capacity, so the same content may require a bigger symbol. The piece concludes that a fixed printed footprint with a higher correction level means a higher version and lower module density.