PROCESSING WITHIN SELECTED AREAS OF INTEREST WITHIN AN IMAGE HAS LONG BEEN A STANDARD METHOD IN IMAGE PROCESSING AND MACHINE VISION. THIS CAN IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF A PROCESS WHEN THE OBJECT OR FEATURE TO BE LOCATED, INSPECTED, ENHANCED, ETC., IS KNOWN TO BE IN A SPECIFIC PORTION OF THE IMAGE. THE ACQUISITION OF IMAGES USING STANDARD INTERFACES SUCH AS RS-170 HAS REQUIRED THAT THE ENTIRE IMAGE BE ACQUIRED EVEN THOUGH MUCH OF THE DATA WILL NEVER BE USED. WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF NONSTANDARD IMAGE ACQUISITION HARDWARE, IT IS NOW POSSIBLE TO ACQUIRE ONLY THE PORTIONS OF IMAGES THAT ARE DESIRED. THIS FEATURE CAN ALLOW PROCESSES TO PERFORM FASTER IN TERMS OF ACQUISITION. THIS METHOD WILL BE DISCUSSED AND AN EXAMPLE APPLICATION WILL BE DESCRIBED.