A plurality of LED's, or electro luminescent strips, are disposed to project illumination to and thru, or towards, a diffuser; resulting in at least a portion of generated diffuse illumination being directed towards and upon the cylindrical surface of an article or part when disposed at an article illumination location. The article illumination location is established so that a centerline through the article is co-linear with a center line of the diffuse illumination projecting from, or reflected from, the diffusers. A housing may be provided for the LED's, electro luminescent strips and diffusers; or they may be otherwise arranged to coact to provide diffuse illumination directed towards the cylindrical surface of the part or other article. illumination reflected off of the article's cylindrical surface, and/or any markings, such as symbology, carried thereby is directed to a lens/camera arrangement to provide an image of same for transmission to a computer, controller, smart camera or other image utilization system.