Dallmeier supplied an IP-based digital audio/video matrix with a real-time recording and management system for the CCTV surveillance in the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco.  Working together with the local installer SME (Société Monégasque d’Électronique), the German manufacturer has created a customised solution to meet the casino’s exact requirements.

The Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco has been dedicated to thrill and suspense from games of chance for more than a hundred years.  Built overlooking the sea in 1863, the casino with its breath-taking marble and gold atrium has experienced many significant events in Monte Carlo and lent the game its unique elegance.  As a result of its unique situation and its prominent guests, the casino enjoys a first class reputation throughout the world. 

The first gaming machines were introduced to the great European courts several hundred years ago, and the most beautiful of all were to be seen in Monte Carlo in the magnificent casino at the end of the 19^th century.

However anything relating to the security of guests and gaming tables is certainly not left to chance. A security system is responsible both for monitoring and operating the establishment’s ca. 400 cameras; and for the centralised monitoring of other casinos in the vicinity.

The casino management decided to replace the existing analogue CCTV system with modern digital technology for recording and transmitting audio and video data. As a result of a thorough evaluation exercise the casino management were convinced by the performance and quality of Dallmeier products. In addition to the excellent picture quality and the scaleable design, a decisive factor in their favour was the extreme ease of operation and management of the entire system.

Transition to a digital solution
Together Dallmeier and the customer planned a migration course, enabling a gradual transition from the existing analogue system via a hybrid solution, to a pure digital security system. Due to the modular nature of the Dallmeier DIS-1 MPEG-2 systems the change-over from analogue VCRs went smoothly and without interruption to the continued operation. 

The DIS-1 is a single channel encoder/decoder with built-in recording in broadcast quality (PAL, 25 fps). Each device has its own integral Ethernet connection by which it is connected to the LAN network. Both a video streaming server and digital MPEG-2 recorder, the DIS-1 is a real all-rounder. There is hardly any difference between the quality of recorded and live video pictures.  The MPEG-2 system has built-in replay functions such as forward and back, as well as slow motion (at different speed settings) or single frame replay forwards and backwards, which enables precise picture analysis.  Group synchronous replay is also possible. The extremely easy-to-use jog-shuttle is the ideal tool for picture searching.  This fast, easy-to-use, high precision picture review tool is especially important for monitoring tasks where everything depends on spotting decisive detail in scenes with fast moving action such as the hand movements involved in positioning and counting at the casino gaming table. The entire system is completed by several DLS 24 S1 as well as PView Stations in the security network. In this instance Dallmeier was able to bring its decades of experience in digital systems to the task.

Significantly lower costs
In the Monte Carlo Casino pictures are recorded directly at the device into a 10-day mirrored ring memory which is automatically over-written after this period.  The servicing and maintenance requirement, and with it the associated costs, are significantly less than for the previous solution.  For example no regular exchange and archiving of recorded tapes is needed, nor is the regular replacement of video cassettes because of wear and tear.

The decentralised data storage solution proved ideal for carrying out the changeover, as it provided increased data security, and the modularity is very advantageous for a step-by-step expansion.  This solution is significantly less demanding on the LAN network, a feature which is then also reflected in significantly lower costs.  The decentralised archive solution with logical matrix functionality provided by Dallmeier electronic offers considerable savings in peripherals and network components and significantly better and more secure archiving than a centralised solution. 

A secure and flexible system
The audio/video data are recorded redundantly on four hard disks.  Besides the hard disks for 10-day recording, other hard disks for redundant recording are also built into the DIS-1.  The operating system is housed on a separate flash-ROM and therefore runs completely independently of the hard disks.  Even if all hard disks fail the DIS-1 is still able to stream video pictures to the security workstations.

The workstations enable convenient management of the whole matrix for all live and replay activity.  Each unit is operated through a touch screen monitor and the video data are displayed in top quality on CVBS video monitors.

Owing to its high flexibility, its individual customisation potential for operation and management, and its economic decentralised recording, a digital video surveillance system with matrix function as installed in the Monte Carlo Casino can be readily adapted for any kind of application, even very large ones.