IndigoVision has been awarded another prestigious contract to upgrade two casinos to fully digital CCTV operation with a virtual matrix. This firmly establishes the company’s integrated IP Video system as the market leader for complete digital CCTV solutions in casinos. IndigoVision believes this will be only the third casino complex in the US to go fully digital, the other two also being IndigoVision installations and follows on from a recent contract to upgrade a chain of 9 casinos in South America.

The Emerald Queen Casino and the Emerald Queen I-5 Casino in Tacoma, Washington, which are operated by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, will have their current analog VCR CCTV systems completely upgraded. The system will be deployed in full compliance with local Gaming Board regulations.

The two systems, totaling 532 cameras, will be installed in less than three months by IndigoVision's local partner Southwest Surveillance Systems. Based in Las Vegas Southwest will manage the installation from their Olympia, WA office. The flexibility of IndigoVision's IP Video technology means that the migration to digital can be phased so the casinos remain open and any downtime is kept to a minimum. All of the original cameras will be re-used, but the analog matrix, VCRs and video cabling will be replaced.

The two casinos will each have their own security control room, where operators will use 'Control Center', IndigoVision's video and alarm management software to view live and recorded video from any of the cameras in the casino. The ageing VCR system will be replaced with IndigoVision's Network Video Recorders (NVRs) which will provide fast access to recorded footage allowing gaming disputes to be quickly resolved.

Commenting on the project Mark Arquette, Surveillance Director for the Puyallup Tribe said, "IndigoVision's IP Video system was chosen following trials of competing systems. We were particularly impressed with the functionality of the 'Control Center' software, the excellent video quality and the speed at which recorded video can be accessed."

Each of the original CCTV cameras will be connected to an IndigoVision 8000 transmitter/receiver which converts the analog feed to DVD-quality, 4SIF, 30fps digital video for transmission over the IP network. This is achieved without any frames being dropped, whatever the level of motion and activity in the camera scene. This is a fundamental requirement of Gaming Boards and casino operators. Any dropped frames within a video clip could hide fraudulent or criminal activity and make any customer disputes more difficult to resolve.