Megapixel IP Cameras for the Gaming Industry

Megapixel video is providing superior images, cost savings and delivering excellent return on investment (ROI) for important and well-known casinos throughout the world. For the first time, megapixel cameras can deliver to casino operators the high-quality 25 or 30 frames per second (fps) video mandated by local gaming commissions.

Gaming facilities are migrating their core operations to enterprise-level IP networked platforms, and megapixel video cameras are the superior choice for these IP video systems. Megapixel resolution exceeds the limited capabilities of conventional IP and analog cameras and recording devices while delivering unsurpassed imaging performance and economic efficiencies.

Because megapixel IP cameras offer much higher resolution than standard network cameras, they can take the place of multiple standard definition/VGA cameras in many applications. Fewer cameras equate to reduced installation costs and fewer software licenses that play well to the gaming industry‘s focus on ROI. The use of H.264 image compression reduces file sizes to minimize storage space requirements and makes megapixel video streams manageable on the network. The fact is, megapixel camera technology provides gaming customers with a clear and flexible path to a substantially better video surveillance system solution.

Megapixel Video in the Casino
While gaming is a global business, local regulatory agencies stipulate specific surveillance requirements that vary by jurisdiction. For example, Native American gaming establishments in the United States have been using megapixel IP cameras to provide detailed images to monitor gaming activities for several years. The Nevada Gaming Commission, as another U.S.A. example, stipulates regulations that require more specialized surveillance solutions.
Arecont Vision was approached directly by a major property in Las Vegas, USA, that faced a challenge meeting the State of Nevada's video surveillance regulations. One of the key requirements as it pertains to video surveillance is the gaming industry regulation that video be in "real-time," 30 frames per second. The European analog PAL standard would be equivalent to 25 fps. At that time, no company building megapixel cameras had a solution that could guarantee the 30fps requirement. The gaming facility asked us if we could meet this requirement - and we did.

Arecont Vision management and engineering rose to the challenge. In reality, the Nevada Gaming Commission's frame rate specification plays to the strengths of Arecont Vision megapixel cameras' ability to produce better images at faster frame rates, which has been the company‘s mission since its formation in 2003. We responded to this specific requirement with the introduction of Arecont Vision's Casino Mode on all our high-definition 1080p H.264 cameras. Casino Mode ensures that the frame rate will not dip below 30fps by forcing automatic bit rate and exposure control to maintain specific predetermined settings. This feature provides compliance with stringent regulatory specifications while providing megapixel images that can dramatically improve video quality and functionality and provide rapid ROI for casino operators.

The ability to capture highly detailed real-time video on table games provides several advantages. The higher resolution images provided by megapixel cameras greatly expand the ability to view and identify critical information such as a stack of chips or the numbers and suits on playing cards. At craps tables, megapixel images can capture the dots on the dice. In the past, analog and standard definition IP cameras have often failed to pick up these important details. Megapixel technology also expands the capabilities of high-tech video surveillance by enabling more sophisticated analytics. Additional image detail also enables fewer cameras to be deployed to monitor large areas such as slot areas, resulting in higher overall efficiencies.

Useful throughout Gaming Resorts
Gaming resorts have vast security needs beyond the gaming floor. Gaming encompasses multiple business operations under one roof such as dining, hotel and spa facilities, retail and entertainment. The variety of video needs in the gaming environment is exemplified by the practice of casinos to separate surveillance of gaming activities and facility security as different departments. Surveillance handles the gaming floor, while security handles the other parts of the property. Megapixel cameras support all of these specific "vertical" operations very well.
Megapixel video can be used to secure back-of-house operations, while helping ensure the safety of guests and staff. When viewing a cash handling area, megapixel images capture cash denominations. Video surveillance also helps management to supervise staff, increase productivity and litigate workers‘ compensation claims.

A wide range of megapixel cameras are available to fit the specific functional needs of gaming facilities. Whether indoors or outdoors, from compact box cameras to all-in-one bullet-style cameras to panoramic dome solutions, system designers have the megapixel imaging tools they need for any site application.

Just as important as their performance is the cost effectiveness of megapixel cameras. For example, where 10 standard-resolution cameras might have previously been required to cover a parking lot, the same application can now be served using three or four strategically-positioned 3-megapixel cameras or even a single 8- or 20-megapixel panoramic camera, depending on the customer's requirements.

In these parking areas, the superior resolution of megapixel cameras allows operators to identify people and license plate numbers. Megapixel cameras can consistently provide the highest possible safety level for gaming operators. Better image quality also increases the value and accuracy of License Plate Recognition (LPR) analytics technologies, which can be applied at parking lot entrances and exits on any megapixel camera with great results.
Arecont Vision panoramic cameras can replace mechanical pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras in the surveillance of a large lobby area with a single camera. PTZ cameras have mechanical liabilities as well as one major practical liability, which is that the camera can only look in one direction at a time. Panoramic 180-degree cameras provide a wider field of view and 360-degree cameras can look in all directions all the time, providing the detail that gaming resorts need to deter, identify and prosecute. Whether viewing a parking lot or a casino floor, a mechanical PTZ camera can only watch one of multiple fields-of-view it surveys at a time. That leaves the majority of fields-of-view without coverage, and covering those additional fields with additional cameras increases costs. Megapixel panoramic (multi-imager) cameras capture the entire scene, all the time, to provide excellent situational awareness. Users can zoom in on any area of the image, live or on recorded video without losing valuable data from the entire captured scene. This capability is unique to megapixel cameras.

Megapixel IP cameras provide the resolution and clarity required for forensic examination and prosecutable evidence, including cash denominations and license plate numbers, reducing the manpower needed to monitor live video and shortening the time needed to locate crime on the recorded video.

Compliance and Performance
Beyond the ability to comply with regulations, the superior performance of megapixel cameras fits a variety of demanding needs in the gaming environment. Our sales people frequently meet with gaming professionals who are used to seeing the dark, grainy images from analog and VGA IP cameras. When these customers see megapixel IP images at frame rates even lower than 25fps, they think they are looking at real-time video because the clarity and detail is so much better. To be able to guarantee that image quality at 25fps/30fps using our Casino Mode provides the assurance casino operators need to run their businesses. In the gaming environment, it‘s a clear game-changer.