(a) at said POS station, providing an automatic digital image capture and processing system having a system housing with an imaging window, and an area-type illumination and imaging station disposed within said system housing, for projecting a coextensive area-type illumination and imaging field through said imaging window into a 3D imaging volume during object illumination and imaging operations, wherein said area-type illumination and imaging station includes (i) an image formation and detection (IFD) subsystem having an image sensing array and optics providing a field of view (FOV) on said image sensing array and extending into said 3D imaging volume, (ii) an illumination subsystem having an array of visible LEDs and an array of infrared (IR) LEDs for illuminating an object within said 3D imaging volume, with visible and invisible illumination, (iii) an illumination control subsystem for controlling said illumination subsystem, (iv) an image capturing and buffering subsystem for capturing and buffering digital images of the illuminated object detected by said image sensing array, and (v) a digital image processing subsystem for processing said captured and buffered digital images, and (vi) an automatic object detection subsystem for automatically detecting the object within said 3D imaging volume;

(b) moving the object through said 3D imaging volume, and said automatic object detection subsystem automatically detecting said object, and generating signals indicative of said detected object;

(c) in response to said generated signals, said illumination subsystem automatically producing a first wide-area field of visible illumination from said array of visible LEDs, simultaneously with a second wide-area field of invisible illumination from said array of IR LEDs, whereby said first and second wide-area fields of illumination spatially overlap and intermix with each other and produce a composite wide-area illumination beam that is at least substantially coextensive with said FOV, as said illumination control subsystem adaptively controls the relative power ratio of said fields of visible illumination and invisible illumination (VIS/IR), and said image formation and detection subsystem forms and detects one or more digital images of said illuminated object, during said object illumination and imaging operations;

(d) said image sensing array detecting one or more digital images of the illuminated object during object illumination operations;

(e) said image capturing and buffering subsystem capturing and buffering digital images of the illuminated object, detected by said image sensing array; and

(f) said digital image processing subsystem automatically processing said buffered digital images so as to read one or more 1D and/or 2D code symbols graphically represented in said digital images.