1. A method of operating an optical code scanner implemented by a digital processor within the optical code scanner, the method comprising: capturing an image from the item scanning area of the optical code scanner; generating a sequence of reduced resolution images from the captured image wherein each successive generated image has a lower resolution than the prior image; enhancing the contrast of the lowest resolution generated image not previously enhanced to improve the quality of the image; identifying a region of interest in the enhanced generated image with the highest resolution wherein the region of interest includes an optical code candidate; modifying a portion of the captured image that corresponds to the identified region of interest to correct for geometrical distortion; and recovering optical code data from the optical code candidate located in the modified portion of the captured image.