Optical indicia reading terminal with color image sensor

An apparatus, comprising:

• a microprocessor;
• a memory communicatively coupled to said microprocessor;
• an image sensor integrated circuit communicatively coupled to said memory, said image sensor integrated circuit including a two-dimensional color image sensor including a plurality of pixels;
• an imaging lens configured to focus an image onto said two-dimensional image sensor;
• a direct memory access (DMA) controller;
• and
• a housing encapsulating said two-dimensional color image sensor;
• wherein said image sensor integrated circuit is configured to output a plurality of digital signals, each digital signal of said plurality of digital signals being representative of light incident on at least one pixel of said plurality of pixels;
• wherein said apparatus is configured to store in said memory a frame of monochrome image data by selectively acquiring a plurality of luminance signals from said plurality of digital signals, each luminance signal of said plurality of luminance signals being representative of a luminance of light incident on at least one pixel of said plurality of pixels;
• wherein said DMA controller configured to acquire said plurality of luminance signals from said plurality of digital signals;
• and
• wherein said apparatus is configured to decode said frame of monochrome image data.