An optical reader for decoding an encoded symbol character of a symbology includes a scan data signal processor having as an input a scan data signal encoding information representative of the encoded symbol character. The scan data signal processor includes a first time delay stage adapted to provide a primary phase waveform from the scan data signal, a second time delay stage adapted to provide an early phase waveform from the scan data signal, and a third time delay stage adapted to provide a delayed phase waveform from the scan data signal. The early phase waveform has a propagation delay less than the primary phase waveform, and the delayed phase waveform has a propagation delay greater than the primary phase waveform. The scan data signal processor further includes a peak window detection stage for generating a peak window timeframe when an amplitude of the primary phase waveform is greater than, less than, or equal to both an amplitude of the early phase waveform and the delayed phase waveform. The optical reader further includes a digitizer circuit adapted to accept, within the peak window timeframe, the scan data signal processor output.