The digital video surveillance for casinos and entertainment facilities

The trend of digital video surveillance technology has literally swept the entire world in the past couple of years five years. The switch from traditional, analog recording interfaces to DVRs has been revolutionary. Anyone taking a walk at most entertainment sites in the US will certainly be astonished about how enveloping and prevailing DVR technology has become at these crowded locations. A number of people have even made joked that they feel like they are visiting a show for video surveillance technologies.  The fact of the matter is that almost everyone seems to have hopped onto the digital wagon. When it comes to video surveillance technology, casinos are undoubtedly among the first benefiters on the list. They take full advantage of digital surveillance technology when it comes to security and safety.
In the old times of DVRs, interfaces could potentially cost up to six thousand per camera, which is relatively much higher than the cost of analog systems. On top of the financial burden, there also was a legitimate worry over particular performance restrictions—such as the necessity to have real-time recording rates on every camera utilized to watch table action on the floor of the casino. At the price or six thousand dollars per camera, the switch to digital was not going to take place. Early endorsement of utilizing digitally recorded footages were carried out in courts. precedent and Protocol basically did not enable for the technology with any rate of confidence. Even though attractive, the digital technology was just an impractical innovation, one that appeared to be a distinct opportunity. Due to that fact, the surveillance investments continued to pour full stream ahead, but merely in the direction of the previous, less costly, more dependable VHS analog interfaces.

Movement towards the digital
The pervious performance hindrances of real-time recording frequencies, digital matrix abilities, high-storage costs and the legal court system’s adopting of watermarking digital video all appeared to take longer than digital technology promoters would promise on a yearly basis.
Despite that, once the technology obstacles were removed, there was still the small hindrance of budget limitations. The reality of the matter is that the digital technology was, and will always be, more costly than its analog ancestor. Adding to that, with millions of dollars spent on analog technology, a technology that answer the demands of most casino surveillance centers, it is not unexpected that the switch to digital technology was slow to be endorsed.
Nonetheless, as with most technological improvements, advantages of the technology will prevail in the long run. Those advantages are now beginning to pile up. A good number of security experts believe that in the next three to five years, the last iron grip of analog surveillance technology will finally lose its power. In spite of everything, casinos are already enjoying the benefits that the digital video surveillance systems bring to their facilities.
Among the first benefits of digital security systems is that they store compressed video files on a system’s hard drive for easy finding and organization. The technology compression that is presently in use enables a file to be retrieved multiple times for many years to come, if the need calls for it, with almost no degradation of the footages whatsoever. The footages and pictures appear as crisp and clear as the did they day that they were captured, in spite of the number of times the video has been copied, stored or played back. And at the present time, the price tag of storage is far less pricey, even pennies on the dollar, relative to the price of a VHS tape substitution. The price of VHS tapes will persist on rising as the demand for that technology continues to go down. As a direct result of that, the enticement for surveillance departments to overuse accessible VHS tapes becomes even larger. This problem only adds to the general prices of utilizing the analog technology. The officials of the gaming commission are widely known to hand out steep fines as soon as they capture incidents of VHS tapes overuse by the surveillance departments.
In addition to that, the digital interfaces enable for quicker response times from surveillance department staff. The operators of the system have the ability to immediately recover footage from any camera, virtually within seconds of when they first need it. Not only is this a major enhancement from a customer service point of view—not having to force clients to wait several minutes every time a review is required—it can also mean the difference between apprehending a suspicious individual before they are able to make an escape from the facility. Through drastically minimizing the response time labor and staffing efficiencies can also be made possible. Take for instance the dollar value attached to guarding gaming clients. Safeguarding the gaming clients is not only vital to building a loyal customer base in today’s competitive setting—it is an absolute requirement for the survival of the casino itself.
The digital interfaces of our time and age have the capability of integrating with other surveillance and management interfaces utilized throughout the casino facility. The end result when video is converged with the individual interfaces is an exponential rise in the effectiveness of each interface. This is simply not possible with analog utilities of the past.
Consider, for instance, a new technology now expanding in popularity among casino facilities—RFID-integrated gaming chips. In order to use this new technology, a casino deploys detectors underneath each of the tables at the gaming stations. As soon as a player places a bet, if it is not positioned appropriately, the dealer will move the bet to the correct area, the spot where the security cameras above the tables can clearly view the bet and where the detectors below the table can read the RFID tags built into the betting chips themselves.
To explain further, if the player has bet a certain number of chips, and the security cameras see that exact number, but the RFID system counts only one chip less, one chip is not equipped with an RFID tag—at least not one that the interface can detect. If all the chips used in the casino contained detectable RFID tags, the pit boss will most probably get a notification from security that the player who has just bet seven chips has a counterfeit chip with them. At the point several Alerts will be triggered. Furthermore, the CCTV cameras recorded on digital systems will automatically snap a picture of the player, register the site, tag the incident and keep an eye on the player through the casino's facility. Instant questions will be presented about the real identity of the player and if he is known amongst the other players as a counterfeiter. Capturing, identifying and arresting frauds like this is far more possible with a converged digital system in general. yet again, reflect on the enormous costs at risk. Not only are there the expenses of a thief playing for free, but what if the player makes a big win?
A second scenario of how digital surveillance interfaces can greatly improve existing security and administration tools used throughout casino properties is the capability to interface with numerous POS interfaces. These interfaces are utilized in the facility's restaurants, gift shops and bars. Robbery of products, both by employees and customers, is as prevalent in a casino facility as it is in any other retail atmosphere. Having the capability to associate every transaction to the exact time and footage is no small prevention, especially when operators can arrange, query and recover the transaction and frottage information by virtually any arrangement of specifications.

Benefits of digital technology on a daily basis
Numerous case studies bring to view the fact that analog video surveillance systems simply can not generate the same outcomes, as digital interfaces. Having the ability to match articles sold with real-time video of each sale conveys massive accountability to patrons and workers who are enticed to be less than frank in the processing of business operations. Bear in mind that in many instances the employee is cooperating with the customer on the robbery. The digital video interfaces along with POS integration can mark these sorts of thefts and stop them dead in their tracks before they can continue on longer. These alarms can be programmed for specific types of transactions to be reviewed at once—even viewed as the event is taking place.
Shortages of Cash drawer also can now be traced without difficulty. Every operation's footage is recorded, along with relevant POS data. Security departments, apprehensive of worker theft, are no longer required to search for an (impossible to find) item. All what the security officials have to do is to simply key in the item, register digit, dollar amount or cashier under debate, along with a particular date or time range they want to playback, and instantly retrieve all the relevant data.
Interfaces of access management can also be incorporated with modern digital set ups. Analogous to POS incorporation, access management database information can be searched and queried for visual verification of worker use of a certain vicinity. Through utilizing central monitoring capabilities, a worker's identification can be confirmed or denied visually in real time, and admittance can be denied or approved right away by a surveillance or security department operators. The representatives of security no longer are required to be located throughout the property at every important entrance point. The agents of video surveillance can deny or allow access to practically any location within the system’s management. The entire procedure can be carried out at any time, all with a single click of a button.
Moreover, the DVR interfaces are not alone in technology cost-savings enhancements. There also are considerable technology enhancements that have been attained in cameras not yet deployed by most casino security branches. The vast majority of casino properties, by the standards of our time, are still using low-resolution cameras to capture the video footage. Not only is there a large potential of possibility to amplify clarity through much higher resolution cameras, but there also is considerable improvements where difficult lighting conditions take place. Time and again, upon the ordering of a review from the pit boss, the result comes back full of loopholes, due to a lack of clarity in the captured video footage. It is clearly obvious that there is no use or benefit of having the footage recorded while at the same time nobody can clearly tell with sound certainty what the events of the video show. Without a doubt, this could end up costing an enormous sum of money in expenses to mistakes claimed by gamers that were not in fact at fault in any way. Is it an unwritten rule that if the casino can not verify the information, the policy is to pay. All it takes is one large payment that should not have been inverted; all is due to an inconclusive dispute.

The advantage of Digital technology
Entertainment facilities also are popularly known for benefiting from PTZ cameras. Quality capabilities as well as zoom power have drastically increased considerably in the last couple of years. That does not only carry great weight, but tour and preset abilities also have enhanced exponentially on latest PTZ cameras. All of this is improved even more by the superior D1 quality recording resolution now achievable with digital interfaces.
Perchance one of the most fascinating new technologies facilitated by digital interfaces is the ability for true 360-degree camera views to be recorded and watched live all at once. In addition to that, the digital technology now enables for a non-distorted, 360-degree view from a single camera, which is a great improvement over the traditional view range of the past. Surveillance personnel can even zoom in and out on live video with technology, even when the camera does not have PTZ capabilities. The analog security technology just can not come within reach of that level of power.
After all this, with all the considerable benefits of digital technology, are there still noteworthy cost obstacles standing in its path?
The fact of the matter is that, despite the fact that the price of a digital interface may still be higher to some extent than its analog predecessor; the actual cost of a digital interface is considerably lesser. To a greater extent, gaming industry CFOs are now starting to realize a transition to digital technology can compare to a considerable increase in next year’s end product. In the near future, lots of people believe that one important difference between those CFOs who choose to make the transition contrasting to those who do not, may very well be the extent of their performance bonus when the year comes to an end. It is clear that financial limitations are done away with, when real dollars are dropped to the bottom line.