Entertainment in full HD: Dallmeier installs the world's largest full HD video system in Studio City, Macau
Glamour, excitement, fun: With Studio City, Melco Crown Entertainment has set a new milestone in Macau. Even the video equipment has to be described in superlatives: Dallmeier has installed the largest full HD casino video system in the world, involving several thousand IP cameras.
Studio City is a mega-entertainment resort, unparalleled anywhere in the world. The all-pervading theme of the resort is film and cinema. The Hollywood-inspired resort offers excitement of every conceivable kind – not just in the glamorous casino with its countless gaming tables and staggering jackpots, but also in the many other cinema-themed attractions. If you are looking for thrills, you will certainly find them in "The House of Magic", where world-famous magicians will defy your senses, or the action-packed "Batman Dark Flight", a 4D simulation ride. An opulent hotel with 1,600 guest rooms, an international collection of exquisite restaurants and a New York and Hollywood themed shopping street with world-famous designer labels offer something for everyone. The resort even has the highest figure-8 Ferris wheel on the planet.
And the video system is unique as well: The entire video security system is based on IP technology and delivers outstanding full HD image quality throughout. Besides other casinos in the Melco Crown Entertainment Group – City of Dreams Macau, City of Dreams Manila and Altira Macau – Studio City now joins the long list of Dallmeier's customers.
We spoke with Leroy Daniel, Executive Director MCE Surveillance Operations, about the challenges and unique features of this video security system.
Leroy, what are the special features of the video security system in Studio City?
The video surveillance system supplied by Dallmeier is the world’s first 100% end-to-end IP full HD system of this size, scale and complexity within the casino industry.
What were the main reasons for choosing Dallmeier?
Dallmeier was the partner of our choice for numerous reasons, first and foremost the casino industry is by nature the most demanding surveillance system application in the world today. From airports, prisons, shopping centres, universities, military facilities, city surveillance, etc., nowhere has the concentration of cameras per square metre than what you will find in a casino property as well as the real-time demands by individual users. Very few systems can seamlessly meet such high level of demand in all aspects, let alone also as a full IP system. Dallmeier is the best of them!
The outstanding image quality of the Dallmeier cameras also influenced our decision. The full HD PTZ and fixed cameras perform with an extraordinary resolution and excellent zoom functionality. In casino surveillance, definition of details is absolutely critical and can make the difference in a case or incident!
Another reason was the ability to adjust camera settings via global configuration down-the-line, which means less time on ladders and less disruption to our business.
Dallmeier technology stands for a proven resilient system with the highest level track record of performance and availability. And not to forget the ability to customize high and low level interfaces directly to all our business revenue streams and associated systems.
What exactly is monitored with the Dallmeier video system?
Via the system, we monitor every aspect of the entire Studio City integrated resort: gaming areas, retail boulevards, hotel towers, entertainment venues, Heart-of-House, cash areas and vaults, points-of-sale, car parks, high security areas, external perimeter and all public areas.
More than 6,000 full HD network cameras are recorded on reliable video appliances. Furthermore, standby and failover servers ensure highest availability of all data.
What was the biggest challenge in this project?
The biggest challenge for us was the design complexity of the property, both in terms of the master plan but also ceiling design and fixtures. The challenges come when other ceiling infrastructure such as lighting elements, fire systems, ventilation, design features, public announcement and sound system all end up in the same place where you need to place cameras.
Designers tend to focus priority on Form over Function, whereas operations people lean towards Function over Form. There is, however, a balance of function and form that can be achieved via close collaboration with architects and designers whereby the Dallmeier IP cameras (running off CAT-6 cabling and low heat emitting) can be aesthetically integrated into or within ceiling design fixtures or chandeliers…this we have achieved quite successfully.
Dallmeier has also developed a special camera for you…
That’s correct. Pit-View – a small HD 1080P camera which we specifically requested Dallmeier to produce in order to meet our needs. It has been successfully integrated into all our gaming table scoreboards, finally bringing surveillance cameras out of the ceiling and down to patron level providing superior views of the gaming action much to the satisfaction of internal stakeholders, not to mention also the Gaming Regulator and Law Enforcement for irrefutable evidence of occurrences and/or illegal acts.
What is the concept for your control room?
Our Surveillance Operations Centre is designed with functionality and ergonomics in mind, with the understanding that we achieve results through the “eyes” of our surveillance operators. So providing them a work space that can deliver a high-performance results-orientated environment with the highest level of HCI (Human Computer Interaction) and intuitiveness was a key focus. The operator intuitiveness and user-friendliness of the video management, the Dallmeier SeMSy® system, also goes in line with this philosophy.
At the Surveillance Operations Centre, the on-shift management team are embedded in the heart of the operation with direct line of sight or peripheral on all monitoring stations. The managing support levels can flow and circulate around and behind consoles with ease, providing the necessary guidance, coaching and performance management.
You have been talking about interfaces… What integrations have been realized and what is the added value for you?
Some of the key integrations that make Dallmeier unique and enhance our ability to protect the business, is the customized development of high-level interfacing to our core systems around the property. Interfaces include gaming machines, intelligent gaming shoe, point-of-sale, security access control intruder detection system and RFID gaming chips.
This brings the convergence of video and data or events directly to our operators in real-time and book marked for click-&-play or available for post investigation, analysis, or export looking into trends and anomalies.
Additionally, direct interfaces to the security system allow immediate on-screen-display of cameras associated or nearby any alarmed event, enabling the effective timely detection, assessment and dispatch of response teams with situational awareness.
Leroy, are you satisfied with your choice?
Dallmeier’s continual and ongoing Research & Development dedicated to the product is clearly seen in this holistic video solution. We are highly satisfied with the system and with both the regional and global unconditional Dallmeier technical support.
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