COUNTERTOP-BASED DIGITAL IMAGE CAPTURE AND PROCESSING SYSTEM HAVING AN ILLUMINATION SUBSYSTEM EMPLOYING A SINGLE ARRAY OF LEDS DISPOSED BEHIND AN ILLUMINATION FOCUSING LENS STRUCTURE INTEGRATED WITHIN THE IMAGING WINDOW, FOR GENERATING A FIELD OF VISIBLE ILLUMINATION HIGHLY CONFINED BELOW THE FIELD

A countertop-mounted digital image capture and processing system that includes a housing having an imaging window with an illumination-focusing lens component integrated therewithin. The area-type image formation and detection subsystem, also disposed in the housing, has image formation optics for projecting a field of view (FOV) through the imaging window and onto an area-type image detection array, for forming and detecting 2D digital images of an object in the FOV, during object illumination and imaging operations. The single array of LEDs is disposed immediately behind the illumination-focusing lens structure, for generating a field of visible illumination that reflects off an object within said FOV and is transmitted back through said imaging window and onto said area-type image detection array.