A method for transferring data from a display device to an electronic device includes displaying a visual pattern on the display device. The visual pattern represents the data being transferred. In the electronic device, the visual pattern is received and processed to obtain the data represented by the visual pattern. The visual pattern may be formed by an array of data elements, each data element representing at least one bit of data being transferred to the electronic device. A series of such arrays may be sequentially displayed on the display device. The visual pattern may alternatively be formed by a bar code that represents bits of data being transferred to the electronic device. A series of bar codes may be sequentially displayed on the display device.