CCTV System for CASINO

[Stylis10 0]

Hello All,

 

I am quite new to cctvs and whilst I have done some research on this I would still like more advice.

 

I am in the process of setting up a medium size Casino (6 roulette tables, 10 card tables, 4 poker tables and 50 slot machines)

 

My main concern is the cctv system. I have read that IP cameras would be the best option but what type of recorder would be recommended, which brand of cameras, what quality of cameras?

 

help in any of these areas would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance,

Stylis

[survtech 0]

Stylis,

 

It depends an awful lot on what regulations and regulatory authority the casino falls under. Each area has specific rules regarding what must be covered by cameras and often specifies things like frame rates, retention time of cameras, backup power, Surveillance Room staffing, etc.

 

For instance, many regulatory authorities require "real time" recording of gaming tables, individual slot machines or banks of machines, count rooms, cash cages, etc. "Real time" is also sometimes subject to interpretation. Some authorities will accept 15 frames per second while others require 30 frames per second. The NIGC MICS (National Indian Gaming Commission Minimum Internal Control Standards), published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the U.S. federal government, requires 20fps, largely because the regulations were enacted during the days of VCRs and were aimed at so-called Time Lapse VCRs, that typically recorded at lower frame rates to extend the amount of time a tape could hold.

 

Many casinos separate the frame rates for some cameras from others. To save storage, some casinos record non-critical cameras at lower frame rates while recording "critical" cameras at "real time" frame rates (15-30fps). We chose to record every camera at 30fps, in part because our regulations were somewhat vague about what "real time" is and where it is required. That's a major reason why we have 700TB of primary storage when if we had liberally interpreted the regulations, we could have gotten away with half of that, or less.

 

In other areas of coverage, most places require camera coverage of all gaming areas and all cash handling areas. Resolutions typically require things like the ability to determine the value and suit of playing cards on the table and the value of chips in a stack. That typically requires at least 720p resolution. The same may be true of cash handling, where some authorities require the ability to determine the value of currency laid on a counter. Other regulations may include requiring two cameras "criss-crossed" for each craps or roulette table.

 

So in your casino, you would need approximately 26 cameras for the gaming tables, with perhaps additional cameras for pit overviews, slot area overviews, point of sales (cash registers) if any, count room/vault, cash cages (typically one camera looking straight down at the counter for each station plus a room overview / "211" (holdup) camera. Add cameras covering the face and jackpot sign of any "wide area progressive" slot machines (we typically cover the face of, and jackpot sign of, all slot machines that have a "reset jackpot" of $100,000 or more) Reset Jackpot is the beginning jackpot value when a machine is first placed in service or the amount the jackpot "resets" back to after someone wins it.

 

In actuality, we cover every square inch of the gaming floor and most of the "back of house", except for private offices. Our casino has 2,000 slot machines, 40-something regular gaming tables and 20 poker tables, in addition to multiple cash cages, a count room and vault, ATMs and Ticket Redemption Kiosks (where slot players turn their cashout tickets back into cash) and numerous other areas we cover. We also cover parking lots and parking structures, employee hallways, entrances and exits and so on. Our camera count is over 1,000. We still use many analog cameras, although we are slowly switching many of our cameras to HD IP. The mix is approximately 20% HD IP and 80% analog but that changes weekly as we add IP and remove analog cameras.

 

We also have over 150 PTZ cameras, both inside and outside the casino buildings.

 

As far as recording, we record every camera at 30fps using an Enterprise-level NVR/VMS system with multiple servers and over 700TB of RAID6 storage with multiple levels of redundancy for everything, including "auto-failover" backup servers, UPS and generator power backup, redundant HVAC server room cooling and redundant networking. Our camera retention time varies from two weeks to 60 days, depending on its function.

 

We also employ RAID to store evidence clips and have retained all that critical data for over 10 years. That takes up around 10TB of storage.

[Stylis10 0]

Thank you survtech, that is actually quite helpful.

 

I should add that I am not in US or Europe but in Africa, the country in which I am in does not have specific regulations towards cctv in casinos and all casinos here have put this into place for their own security. Despite not having any rules or regulations with regards to cctv, we still want to have as much coverage as possible to ensure the saftey of out casino and that of the customers.

 

I have only ever worked with home cctv systems that at 16ch so going to a much larger system is new for me, we will have a technician here that will set the system up, however most cctv companies here charge extortionate prices for the hardware, hence we will most likely be ordering it from abroad.

 

We have had a few recommendation from companies here on hardware, but further research has found that these are cheap re-branded cameras for which the companies have just tripled the price here.

 

If there is any places someone could point me to as to where to learn more about setting up larger systems it would be very grateful. Whilst I will be having someone to set the system up for me, I know the importance of the cctv system in a casino and so would like to learn as much about the systems available as possible and what best set ups would be.

[survtech 0]

Stylis,

 

It's honestly difficult to get much info on casino CCTV systems. General rules about cameras and recording systems apply but casinos often have their own approach and we tend not to tell each other very much. I also don't know what is available in Africa so even steering you to a system manufacturer may not be any help, especially if they don't do business there.

 

We use IndigoVision for our recording system and many of our HD cameras. In the U.S., they are one of the companies that specializes in the casino vertical. Other companies involved in the casino industry are Dallmeier, NICE Systems (although they just sold their entire video section to a private company named Qognify, and to a lesser extent, Pelco, Genetec, Milestone Systems and DVTel. All of those systems are aimed at large-scale deployments like ours so I'm not sure if the companies can be of any help but they may be a good place to start.

 

You can also join IPVM. They are a good source of general knowledge but not cheap to join. I myself let my subscription lapse due to its cost. And, of course, you can ask questions here, although there aren't many on cctvforum.com with casino-specific knowledge.

[Stylis10 0]

Survtech,

 

Thank you for that, I can understand casinos keeping their CCTV system info closely guarded.

 

From speaking with the potential installers, some are still advising to go with an analogue system with 1200tvl cameras. I am not convinced by this and have kept up my research with systems and what is needed to set them up.

 

As far as cameras go, I think 720p IP should be sufficient, though will have to test makes and models to check card visibility at distance camera would potentially be from table.

 

We have worked out that we would need around 60 cameras to cover the whole gaming floor and then just room overview cameras in other areas (restaurant, bar, kitchens, stock rooms, staff rooms, offices)

 

I have found this link and from what I can see, as long as all the different parts of the system can be bought and are compatible, then a technician should be able to set up a similar system. http://support.unisight.net:2700/64ch%20720p%20Solution.pdf

[survtech 0]

Stylis,

 

Covering tables can be both more and less difficult than you might think. The cameras' distance from the table doesn't really have a bearing on whether you can identify the cards and chips or not. Simply use either suitable varifocal lenses or cameras having power zoom/focus lenses and zoom in to obtain a suitable field of view. For varifocal lenses, we typically use the 3.1-8mm lenses that come standard with the IndigoVision Ultra 1k cameras for areas with lower ceilings (under 14 feet high) and Evetar 8-16mm lenses in higher ceilings. We also occasionally use Evetar 12-40mm varifocal lenses where we have to zoom in on something more distant. If the camera has a power zoom/focus lens, 3-9mm works for most applications.

 

The key with table games is usually lighting. The intensity, beamwidth and location of the lights is critical for good camera coverage. Tables should be evenly lit with no "hot spots", which are typically caused by lighting tables with "spot" rather than "flood" lights. The camera and lighting angles are also critical. We typically place the camera approximately over to slightly behind the player opposite the dealer. To prevent glare from the lights reflecting off the cards and back into the camera, we also place the lights on the same side of the table. That makes reflections bounce away from, not toward, the camera.

 

There are a number of theories regarding table game camera placement. We like to locate the cameras above the player side of the table. That allows us to see the actions of the dealer and the chip rack. Other casinos like to place the camera behind the dealer so that they can watch the players or to the side of the table. One key is to not place the camera so far away from the table horizontally that there is a big difference in the distance between the camera and various points on the table. If the camera's angle is too far from perpendicular to the table's surface, you'll find it difficult to get the entire table in focus. Steeper angles make it so when one part of the table is in focus, other part(s) are not.

 

Finally, no matter what type of cameras you get, be aware that with many casino applications, AGC becomes a critical part of the equation. With many cameras, the high contrast found within casinos causes the cameras' AGC to misbehave. The result is a "muddying" of the video, which has practically the same effect as an out-of-focus lens. We often turn AGC off or at least lower the level of the AGC if the camera has that capability. We also often use manual iris lenses and adjust the iris and shutter for best picture.

 

Hope that helps.