Basler IP Cameras Ensure Fair Play at Las Vegas Casino

Several of Basler Vision Technologies new IP Camera models have been selected by Jerry's Nugget Casino to secure their gaming facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jerry's Nugget is a well-established Las Vegas casino with various gaming options, live stage entertainment, and dining facilities. In the course of a security technology update, Jerry's Nugget is replacing 220 analog cameras with 200 Basler IP Cameras.

The majority of the cameras are to be installed in the gaming table and slot machine areas. With their megapixel resolution CCD sensors, Basler's BIP2-1300c-dn IP Cameras help to identify the smallest image details such as the face of a playing card on a large gaming table. Additional cameras will secure the casino's "cage", where chips and tokens can be bought or exchanged for cash and where money is counted. In this area, Basler's new BIP2-640c-dn IP Cameras will be used to detect any irregularities that are too fast for the human eye to see.

For video data storage, Jerry's Nugget relies on a TimeSight video management software and server solution. TimeSight's video life cycle management (VLM) system periodically compresses all image data depending on its age and event severity, and thus drastically reduces storage costs. Some 25% of the cameras have already been installed by Southwest Surveillance Systems, a TimeSight Systems partner, and they are among the first megapixel IP cameras to have ever achieved certification by the Nevada State Gaming Commission. Among the requirements for certification is a camera frame rate of 30 fps, which the Basler's BIP2-1300c-dn delivers using any type of compression (MJPEG, MPEG-4, or H.264). And with its frame rate of 100 fps, the BIP2-640c-dn IP Camera is even three times faster than the Nevada State Gaming Commission's regulations require.

Jeremy Stamis, General Manager at Jerry's Nugget Casino, is delighted with his new security camera installation. "We had a number of objectives in mind when refreshing our surveillance system. Our key goals included truly forensic-quality video as well as extended retention to protect our business against all types of loss, including regulatory fines, liability, shrinkage, and other types of crime," Stamis said. "With Basler's IP Cameras and TimeSight's video life cycle management, we now get both an amazingly high level of detail and still save storage costs."

"Due to the high number of cameras, large storage requirements, and stringent specifications from the gaming commissions, video surveillance in the gaming sector has always been a challenge. The industry hesitated for a long time before replacing aging analog systems with the latest IP-based megapixel technology," said Marko Vogt, Sales Manager Americas - Security at Basler. "Reaching a constant frame rate of 30 fps in the casino's low light environment has been a hurdle to adapting megapixel cameras in gaming. The unique combination of Basler cameras and TimeSight's Video Life Cycle Management solution provides high resolution, high frame rate video while reducing the required storage space by up to 90%."

Scott Bartlett, CEO of Southwest Surveillance, adds: "As one of the first certified megapixel installations in Las Vegas gaming, the quality of images is amazing and will set a new standard for forensic image quality in this environment. Most casinos struggle to determine the suits of cards on the table when viewing their video. This system gives us the ability to clearly read the suit of the cards on the table, not only immediately, but months later."