Patent ID: 7967206

Claim:
A method usable with an imager automatic data collection device having a two-dimensional field of view, the method comprising: producing a stationary aiming beam having a wavelength in a visible portion of an electromagnetic spectrum and having at least one dimension that corresponds to a dimension of the field of view of the imager automatic data collection device; illuminating at least a portion of a target machine-readable symbol with the stationary aiming beam; receiving at least a portion of light of the stationary aiming beam that has been returned from the illuminated area of the target machine-readable symbol; adaptively changing at least one of a shape, size, or intensity of an illumination pattern produced by the stationary aiming beam on the target machine-readable symbol based on at least one of a size of the target machine-readable symbol, a shape of the target machine-readable symbol, and a brightness level of ambient light; and decoding information modulated in the returned and received light.