Patent ID: 8430319

Claim:
An imaging reader for electro-optically reading a two-dimensional symbol, comprising: a solid-state imager supported by the reader and having a two-dimensional array of image sensors for capturing return light from the symbol as pixel data over a field of view, the array having a predetermined pixel count number of the sensors; a memory having a predetermined storage number of storage bytes that is less than the pixel count number; a controller operatively connected to the imager and the memory, for determining a size and a location of the symbol in the field of view, for mapping and subdividing the symbol into a plurality of image capture zones as a function of the determined size and location of the symbol, for sequentially capturing the return light from each zone, for sequentially storing the pixel data from each zone into the memory, for sequentially digitizing the stored pixel data from each zone as digitized data, and for decoding the digitized data from all the zones; and wherein said digitizing the stored pixel data from each zone further comprises dividing the stored pixel data into multiple groups, determining one value for each one of the multiple groups based upon the values of pixel data in said group, and storing the one value for each one of the multiple groups as the digitized data.