Megapixel cameras playing into the gaming surveillance market

The action is fast, and the stakes are high. Fortunes are won or lost on the turn of a card or a roll of the dice. It's where the rush of adrenaline meets the hope of beating the mathematical odds. And it's the perfect application for IP video surveillance using powerful megapixel cameras.

Gaming is not just fun, it's big business-and as a business, it depends on video surveillance to keep the casino tables profitable. The need to see the details in a video image-for example, a stack of chips or the index on a playing card- makes gaming an application that was practically waiting for the invention of megapixel cameras.

The latest megapixel cameras have no problem following the fast action of a casino game and capturing the video in precise detail for analysis. And new developments, notably the emergence of the H.264 compression standard, are paving the way for wide-scale implementation of megapixel cameras in the gaming market by making issues of storage capacity and bandwidth perfectly manageable. The expanding capabilities of megapixel cameras are poised to take the gaming industry by storm, starting at Native American casinos and coming soon everywhere, from the Las Vegas strip to Macau.

Megapixels on the Job

One of the early adopters of megapixel technology for gaming applications is the Lucky Eagle Casino in Southwest Washington State, a state-of-the-art video surveillance solution designed and implemented by North American Video, employing megapixel cameras from Arecont Vision. Miguel Grijalva, director of surveillance at Lucky Eagle Casino, relies on megapixel cameras to improve his staff's ability to view and identify critical information at the gaming tables.

"The new megapixel cameras were installed to improve the image resolution issues we were experiencing with conventional analog cameras," Grijalva said. "It is important that our surveillance operators can clearly see the indexes of the cards. We need to unmistakably view suits and ranks and be able to distinguish between a heart and a diamond. The analog cameras were not picking up enough detail. The megapixel cameras provide the resolution we need to track and verify what is actually happening at our gaming tables."

The ability to view minute details is the result of the additional resolution provided by a 2 megapixel camera (1,600x1,200 pixels) compared to a conventional VGA image (640x480 resolution). The cameras being used at Lucky Eagle Casino are AV2100M 2 megapixel. They offer a frame rate of 24 frames per second and a minimum illumination of only 0.1 lux at F1.4. The camera is part of the MegaVideo© line that leverages proprietary patented technology to help alleviate the cost and frame rate shortcomings often associated with multi-megapixel camera systems.

The megapixel cameras at Lucky Eagle Casino were installed to supplement, rather than replace, the analog cameras already installed. Because the high-definition resolution of the megapixel cameras allows for wider shots, a single megapixel camera is used per table. The analog camera systems are still being used for high-frame-rate-30 frames per second-recording purposes and for more fluid motion. The megapixel IP cameras are recorded at 5 frames per second, thus allowing for reduced storage requirements.

"The frame shot is the same as the analog camera frame shot, but the clarity is several times better," Grijalva said. "If a guest had a full flush, we can go back and readily confirm it because the picture quality is so excellent." There are currently 15 AV2100M 2 megapixel cameras being used at Lucky Eagle Casino to monitor 20 table games, 725 slot machines and five poker tables.

A built-in electronic PTZ function also is beneficial in live monitoring or footage review. The capabilities enable the casino to spot unusual activity and instances of suspicious behavior or cheating, while ensuring that employees comply with procedure. Transitioning to a hybrid system- combining analog and digital technologies-allows casino surveillance operators to use the new cameras without additional training.

"As demonstrated at Lucky Eagle Casino, megapixel cameras offer significant imaging advantages and can be very cost effective when used judiciously on any video surveillance system platform," said Cynthia Freschi, president of North American Video, the system integrator that installed the video surveillance and security system at Lucky Eagle Casino and later enhanced the project with megapixel cameras.