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CCTV
The ‘eyes in the sky’ are vital to casino operations on many levels. They allow operators to monitor staff, streamline security operations by remotely directing staff to where they are needed, and solve player disputes. So why is it that casino operators are seemingly unwilling to upgrade to the latest technology with CCTV?
In casino worldwide, we see investment at every other level aimed at pleasing the customer and increasing profitability, yet CCTV and surveillance is not seen as being part of the revenue-generating casino.
As Craig Howie, Commercial Director of Visimetrics, explains: “Most people view CCTV as a grudge spend and it doesn’t have obvious returns for the investment that you can easily quantify.” Summed up beautifully, Howie asserts that casinos are a particularly complex proposition for a CCTV provider, because the environment “tough to cover because you’ve got quite dim light over the tables, then a background of red or green which is quite harsh for video. In terms of operational requirements, you need instant access to both audio and video, because of when disputes occur at the table, and it has to be of high quality.”
This is just one of the ways digital recording is far superior to using videotapes. With the latest digital technology, there are huge benefits. Michael Bird, Director of Operations for Andromica explains that the shift in CCTV for casinos is going to move towards digital operations from NTSC and PAL systems to megapixel cameras. “The real advantage of these is that you can zoom in and pan around on playback. It’s the same camera that’s in the back of a cell phone, but producing significantly improved images.
“They are of course more expensive superficially, but they can save money elsewhere. In some countries, for example, you might be required to have two cameras on a Roulette table, one on the wheel and one on the table, depending on what the authorities want. But with a megapixel camera, you can cover the same area with one, so you’ve already saved the cost of a camera.” So it’s not as simple as seeing that the cost of one camera is greater than another, when the technology inherent in the new device changes the camera’s potential entirely.
Andromica also uses online technology to help his customers. Bird adds: “With digital video recorders, when we have the operator’s permission, we can go in and look at the fault log and analyse the performance of the machine. If necessary we can download a bug fix or download updates if there is new software around. If there’s a hardware fault we can advise the casino to replace disk number three, for example. We’ve usually trained the slots tech how to replace that and to do basic maintenance. We can also go into the CCTV system and look around the cameras and diagnose faults, and advise on replacing a lens or whatever which the slot tech could take care of.
“The customers like that attention; we can, for example, phone and tell them there was a problem we’ve already fixed. It’s much cheaper for them as well.
“On a typical installation, we’ll go in once a week and have a look around to make sure everything’s working, with the customer’s permission. But half the battle is using equipment we can trust not to fail.”
Andromica is not a developer of CCTV systems, rather a facilitator and a problem solver, which comes from the company’s first job for the Playboy Club in the 1970s. Bird elaborates: “From the Playboy Club, originally. Many years ago, in the 1970s, we put a single camera in the Playboy Club. The management were so impressed with it that the management showed me how the cheating systems work. They were saying ‘Where would you put a camera to catch that?’ and ‘Where would you put a microphone to record that?’ We were able to engineer solutions to it.
“Over the years, most cheats remain the same but the format alters slightly. We just try to keep up with the latest methods of cheating.”
While technology makes catching cheats more difficult, it also makes installing a good system far simpler for the operator, and gradually it’s becoming more affordable. Bird relates: “We used to have to take cameras and modify them to do things the manufacturers didn’t even know they could do. Now, the technology exists to go and buy a Panasonic camera, flick a few switches and install it. Our business has grown much more to understanding the direct needs of the client and working to increasing their profit margin by installing the technology that’s available off the shelf.”
It’s a similar story for many CCTV companies, that the company adapts to the customer’s needs. As Dallmeier USA’s Ralph Jones, Director of Sales, explains: “The casino comes with what they have and we have to solve the problem at our end. Surveillance is usually one of the afterthoughts in a casino; they want everything to look sexy and appealing, and if any of that is a problem for the cameras, the cameras have to adapt to that situation.”
Doing that is not easy, though Dallmeier are one of the companies pushing their own technological developments forward. Their Cam_inPIX technology seems to be getting the most out of megapixel technology, as Jones told us. He said: “The way our camera works with the CMOS chip compared to a typical CCTV camera, is on the typical camera, in the field of view it averages the light for the whole picture. That’s why you see those bright white-out shots, or the dark images where you can’t make anything out. With the Cam_inPIX technology, every single pixel acts as an individual camera, so every pixel is averaged on its own. If you have a bright light in one section of a picture, it doesn’t disrupt the rest of the picture, it’s just bright where that light is.”
Visimetrics’ Howie says switching from traditional to video is about getting improved video and audio, and that price is a factor – though medium- to long-term, it reduces some costs. “[Digital] is much easier to manage, because it’s on hard drive and that takes the whole compliance issue out of it because it’s all automated. You don’t have the work of people changing library banks.” It seems that casinos can hardly lose of they upgrade to a digital system over analogue. Visimetrics’ system offers many benefits, Howie adds: “With a digital system you can alter resolution or frame rate, but then you can also apply varying levels of compression because it’s digital. That’s the trade-off with your storage. On a table, you’ll want a limited amount of compression so you’re getting the best possible quality, so we give you variable compression per channel which makes the systems really flexible because depending on where the camera’s looking, you can alter that compression level.”
Dallmeier have had an installation in the Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino for almost a year now, and it is, the company says, the first digital matrix system in North America with real-time monitoring, 24-7. Barona Gaming Commission’s Director of Surveillance Raymond Welch said of the install: “We previously used an analogue monitoring system and we decided to implement a more innovative program. Regularly changing the tapes and archiving them was simply too expensive and searching for relevant pictures was very laborious and tedious. While analogue systems are easy to use, the simplicity, reliability and functionality of the Dallmeier digital system are even better.”
Ralph Jones adds: “The casino industry seems partly to be waiting until VCRs are no longer available, in terms of switching over to digital product. Barona made the jump fairly early and are very pleased with the product. It’s been installed for nearly a year now, and there has not been one service call to us about the system.
“Their staff have quickly got used to the new system, and they’ve had absolutely no problems. They were trained on site by our installation team, who also stay on site after it’s in to make sure the training is complete.”
The future for casino surveillance is most definitely digital; new builds have the room and access for cabling built-in at architect level, as the buildings are future-proofed as comprehensively as possible. But the jump could be made right now, and with minimal fuss for the operator.
Jones concludes: “The industry is slowly changing from its analogue roots with VCRs into the digital storage world we live in now. But as long as casinos have been able to get VCRs they are less willing to go to the digital solutions. It’s such a change for them from the norm, plus the budgetary constraints, they are basically waiting until the last minute.”
