The read head (1) for a postal sorting installation serves to pick up a digital image of each postal object using a high-resolution camera (3) providing a multiple level gray scale. The read head also has a low-resolution color camera (4), the two cameras (3, 4) being placed in such a manner as to acquire simultaneously two superposable digital images of each postal object. The superposable high-resolution gray scale image and low-resolution color image are intended to be combined in order to provide a high-resolution color image.