Second sight
Second sight
Sanyo Security Products enable casinos to have an eye everywhere to maintain a trouble-free gaming environment
By James J. Hodl
Security is a watchword throughout the gaming industry-and not just since 9/11. It has long been the goal of casinos to provide a safe and trouble-free environment where both the high roller and the just-out-for-fun player can enjoy themselves. And that means being able to eliminate thieves, cheats, rowdies and other troublesome miscreants.
"Helping casinos and other businesses maintain a secure environment for their customers is the overriding mission of the Sanyo Security Products unit of Sanyo Fisher Co.," said Raul Calderon, the company's national product marketing manager. "We provide their secret eyes that enable them to spot problems before they become troublesome, and preserve evidence to convict those caught in the act.
"Sanyo's line of closed-circuit security cameras, monitors and recording devices for the gaming industry are designed to not only meet the specials needs of casinos, but also any size budget they may have. And during the past few years, Sanyo also has introduced new technologies that reduce the maintenance needs of our security equipment, thus freeing casino personnel to perform other tasks that further enhance a safe on-premises environment."
Natural progression
Sanyo Security Products can trace its corporate history back to Japan, where Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. was formed in 1947 after being spun off from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. The firm's initial product was a bicycle lamp. By the early 1950s, Sanyo had expanded into the production of radios, washing machines and other home appliances. It had invaded the industrial products market by the mid-1960s.
Sanyo entered the U.S. in 1961 with the formation in San Diego of Sanyo North America Corp. Initially an importer of inexpensive television sets, this business soon grew into a multi-faceted firm that today markets consumer electronics (through the Sanyo Fisher unit), compact major appliances, business equipment, wireless communications equipment, batteries, biomedical products and industrial equipment.
After nearly a decade of offering security cameras to other businesses, Sanyo Security Products introduced in 1995 its first product line especially tailored to meet the needs of hotel-casinos and other gaming establishments.
"Sanyo is very sensitive to the needs of casino market, whose operators say they
highly prize cameras, monitors and video recording equipment that provide extreme clarity and exact color reproduction," said Calderon.
A clear picture
Take the cameras hung over blackjack and other card tables. To catch cheaters (even among a casino's own employees), the camera has to provide a picture on the security monitor on which one can distinctly tell a spade from a club from a diamond from a heart. The less sharp the picture is, the more these suits look alike, Calderon emphasized.
"We also discovered that cameras over card tables need to be especially sensitive to four colors: Black, white, red and green," he added.
These are the basic colors on such tables, encompassing the colors on the cards, betting chips and the green felt tabletop. Many years ago, when color reproduction wasn't as good, these dark colors could appear mottled and grayish, making them hard to tell apart. The latest Sanyo technology keeps these colors bright and distinct, better enabling security personnel to catch shenanigans as they are unfolding, Calderon explained.
The introduction of higher-resolution digital video recording equipment by Sanyo within the last three years also has enabled casinos to preserve these crisp color-distinct images in pristine condition for use in prosecutions of cheaters, he noted.
Going digital
The leading trend in casino security equipment is the switch in video recording equipment from analog to digital technology. And it is the belief of Calderon that digital recorders offer extensive benefits to casinos in the length of time they can save images, and the cost of saving images in both cost and labor.
"Analog recorders, into which
security camera images are fed to meet legal requirements, are just like the VCRs one has in the home. They record images on videotape, and cassettes have an eight-hour maximum recording time. So every eight hours, security personnel have to go to each machine to replace the tape. If a casino has 100 cameras over tables and/or at entrances, even if a cassette can be replaced in a minute, that's still a lot of time taken away from other duties of personnel," Calderon said.
With Sanyo's new digital recorders, images are saved in a central computer hard drive. The Sanyo Model DSR-M800H with 240-gigabyte storage capacity can hold up to four weeks of images. And with the networking of cameras to digital video recorders, when one hard drive reaches capacity, recording can be automatically shifted to a second digital recorder without losing a second of the flowing images, he noted.
"By not having to switch analog tapes every eight hours, security workers can spend more time viewing monitors to pick up on questionable doings," Calderon said.
Digital images also store more compactly than cassette tapes, thus enabling digital storage disks to be saved longer before being returned to machines to be recorded over with newer images, he added. After all, one digital disk can hold the same real-time images as 42 cassettes.
Sanyo currently offers systems through which high-resolution images from a battery of cameras can be networked through a single security station to be archived automatically in a computer memory that holds up to 70 days of real-time images. And redundancy is built into this network to assure that images are still saved on the rare occurrence that part of the system goes down.
"For instance, if images from Camera B cannot get to its archive due to a component failure, they will be automatically rerouted to the archive of Camera A. Both streams of images will be recorded in different sections of the archive, with a maximum 35 days of images for both," Calderon noted.
Another savings Sanyo offers with its digital equipment is free software upgrades. As long as no hardware swaps are required, software that increases the abilities of existing equipment will be provided, he said.
Something for everyone
Despite the advantages of digital security equipment, Sanyo still maintains a good selection of analog equipment in its product offerings.
"For many smaller casinos, the cost of digital equipment is still too high to justify switching from analog at this time. So Sanyo will serve these customers for as long as they desire analog equipment," Calderon said.
Looking to the future, Calderon sees video security equipment continuing to make great strides toward offering higher-resolution pictures.
Sanyo already offers several Super Resolution DSP color zoom cameras that can be made to pan and zoom into suspicious persons at casino entranceways. Zoom features can make the images appear up to 22 times larger. Both have intelligent motion detectors, and the model VCC-ZM400 also has an optical removal day/night function that provides viewable images on networked monitors in most any type of lighting.
Future cameras will likely be able to provide clear images during panning that will allow security people to quickly pick out identifying facial features of persons casinos would like to keep out, such as pickpockets, thieves, and belligerent persons who might start fights.
"Whatever operators say they could use, we'll look into providing it. It is Sanyo's goal to provide video-based solutions to their security problems," Calderon said.
SIDEBAR:
Sanyo Security Products at a glance
Name:
Sanyo Security Products
21605 Plummer St.
Chatsworth, Calif. 91311
(818) 998-7322
Fax: (888) 818-2597
www.sanyo.com/industrial/security
Founded:
Japanese parent: 1947
U.S. marketing arm: 1961
Security Products unit: 1985
Contact:
Raul Calderon,
National Product Marketing Manager
Products:
Pan/zoom security camera, fixed security cameras, security monitors, video recording systems/analog (8 to 24-hour real time capacities), video recording systems/digital (14 to 70-day capacities), network video cameras, network video servers, network archiving software
Major markets and applications:
Casinos, restaurants, office buildings, banks, medical facilities, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, hotels, retail stores.
SIDEBAR:
Ask Uncle Sam
Besides the gaming, business, industrial, banking and retail industries, Sanyo is a major supplier of closed-circuit security systems to the United States Government.
Sanyo cameras, recorders and controllers are currently being used by many government agencies, including airport security, law enforcement and correctional institutions. The popularity of these systems was officially recognized in October 2002 when the U.S. General Services Administration issued a contract (GS-07F-0096N) to Sanyo that simplifies the acquisition of Sanyo security equipment by government agencies at pre-negotiated prices, terms and conditions. The contract runs through September 2007.
- James J. Hodl
Sanyo Security Products enable casinos to have an eye everywhere to maintain a trouble-free gaming environment
By James J. Hodl
Security is a watchword throughout the gaming industry-and not just since 9/11. It has long been the goal of casinos to provide a safe and trouble-free environment where both the high roller and the just-out-for-fun player can enjoy themselves. And that means being able to eliminate thieves, cheats, rowdies and other troublesome miscreants.
"Helping casinos and other businesses maintain a secure environment for their customers is the overriding mission of the Sanyo Security Products unit of Sanyo Fisher Co.," said Raul Calderon, the company's national product marketing manager. "We provide their secret eyes that enable them to spot problems before they become troublesome, and preserve evidence to convict those caught in the act.
"Sanyo's line of closed-circuit security cameras, monitors and recording devices for the gaming industry are designed to not only meet the specials needs of casinos, but also any size budget they may have. And during the past few years, Sanyo also has introduced new technologies that reduce the maintenance needs of our security equipment, thus freeing casino personnel to perform other tasks that further enhance a safe on-premises environment."
Natural progression
Sanyo Security Products can trace its corporate history back to Japan, where Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. was formed in 1947 after being spun off from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. The firm's initial product was a bicycle lamp. By the early 1950s, Sanyo had expanded into the production of radios, washing machines and other home appliances. It had invaded the industrial products market by the mid-1960s.
Sanyo entered the U.S. in 1961 with the formation in San Diego of Sanyo North America Corp. Initially an importer of inexpensive television sets, this business soon grew into a multi-faceted firm that today markets consumer electronics (through the Sanyo Fisher unit), compact major appliances, business equipment, wireless communications equipment, batteries, biomedical products and industrial equipment.
After nearly a decade of offering security cameras to other businesses, Sanyo Security Products introduced in 1995 its first product line especially tailored to meet the needs of hotel-casinos and other gaming establishments.
"Sanyo is very sensitive to the needs of casino market, whose operators say they
highly prize cameras, monitors and video recording equipment that provide extreme clarity and exact color reproduction," said Calderon.
A clear picture
Take the cameras hung over blackjack and other card tables. To catch cheaters (even among a casino's own employees), the camera has to provide a picture on the security monitor on which one can distinctly tell a spade from a club from a diamond from a heart. The less sharp the picture is, the more these suits look alike, Calderon emphasized.
"We also discovered that cameras over card tables need to be especially sensitive to four colors: Black, white, red and green," he added.
These are the basic colors on such tables, encompassing the colors on the cards, betting chips and the green felt tabletop. Many years ago, when color reproduction wasn't as good, these dark colors could appear mottled and grayish, making them hard to tell apart. The latest Sanyo technology keeps these colors bright and distinct, better enabling security personnel to catch shenanigans as they are unfolding, Calderon explained.
The introduction of higher-resolution digital video recording equipment by Sanyo within the last three years also has enabled casinos to preserve these crisp color-distinct images in pristine condition for use in prosecutions of cheaters, he noted.
Going digital
The leading trend in casino security equipment is the switch in video recording equipment from analog to digital technology. And it is the belief of Calderon that digital recorders offer extensive benefits to casinos in the length of time they can save images, and the cost of saving images in both cost and labor.
"Analog recorders, into which
security camera images are fed to meet legal requirements, are just like the VCRs one has in the home. They record images on videotape, and cassettes have an eight-hour maximum recording time. So every eight hours, security personnel have to go to each machine to replace the tape. If a casino has 100 cameras over tables and/or at entrances, even if a cassette can be replaced in a minute, that's still a lot of time taken away from other duties of personnel," Calderon said.
With Sanyo's new digital recorders, images are saved in a central computer hard drive. The Sanyo Model DSR-M800H with 240-gigabyte storage capacity can hold up to four weeks of images. And with the networking of cameras to digital video recorders, when one hard drive reaches capacity, recording can be automatically shifted to a second digital recorder without losing a second of the flowing images, he noted.
"By not having to switch analog tapes every eight hours, security workers can spend more time viewing monitors to pick up on questionable doings," Calderon said.
Digital images also store more compactly than cassette tapes, thus enabling digital storage disks to be saved longer before being returned to machines to be recorded over with newer images, he added. After all, one digital disk can hold the same real-time images as 42 cassettes.
Sanyo currently offers systems through which high-resolution images from a battery of cameras can be networked through a single security station to be archived automatically in a computer memory that holds up to 70 days of real-time images. And redundancy is built into this network to assure that images are still saved on the rare occurrence that part of the system goes down.
"For instance, if images from Camera B cannot get to its archive due to a component failure, they will be automatically rerouted to the archive of Camera A. Both streams of images will be recorded in different sections of the archive, with a maximum 35 days of images for both," Calderon noted.
Another savings Sanyo offers with its digital equipment is free software upgrades. As long as no hardware swaps are required, software that increases the abilities of existing equipment will be provided, he said.
Something for everyone
Despite the advantages of digital security equipment, Sanyo still maintains a good selection of analog equipment in its product offerings.
"For many smaller casinos, the cost of digital equipment is still too high to justify switching from analog at this time. So Sanyo will serve these customers for as long as they desire analog equipment," Calderon said.
Looking to the future, Calderon sees video security equipment continuing to make great strides toward offering higher-resolution pictures.
Sanyo already offers several Super Resolution DSP color zoom cameras that can be made to pan and zoom into suspicious persons at casino entranceways. Zoom features can make the images appear up to 22 times larger. Both have intelligent motion detectors, and the model VCC-ZM400 also has an optical removal day/night function that provides viewable images on networked monitors in most any type of lighting.
Future cameras will likely be able to provide clear images during panning that will allow security people to quickly pick out identifying facial features of persons casinos would like to keep out, such as pickpockets, thieves, and belligerent persons who might start fights.
"Whatever operators say they could use, we'll look into providing it. It is Sanyo's goal to provide video-based solutions to their security problems," Calderon said.
SIDEBAR:
Sanyo Security Products at a glance
Name:
Sanyo Security Products
21605 Plummer St.
Chatsworth, Calif. 91311
(818) 998-7322
Fax: (888) 818-2597
www.sanyo.com/industrial/security
Founded:
Japanese parent: 1947
U.S. marketing arm: 1961
Security Products unit: 1985
Contact:
Raul Calderon,
National Product Marketing Manager
Products:
Pan/zoom security camera, fixed security cameras, security monitors, video recording systems/analog (8 to 24-hour real time capacities), video recording systems/digital (14 to 70-day capacities), network video cameras, network video servers, network archiving software
Major markets and applications:
Casinos, restaurants, office buildings, banks, medical facilities, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, hotels, retail stores.
SIDEBAR:
Ask Uncle Sam
Besides the gaming, business, industrial, banking and retail industries, Sanyo is a major supplier of closed-circuit security systems to the United States Government.
Sanyo cameras, recorders and controllers are currently being used by many government agencies, including airport security, law enforcement and correctional institutions. The popularity of these systems was officially recognized in October 2002 when the U.S. General Services Administration issued a contract (GS-07F-0096N) to Sanyo that simplifies the acquisition of Sanyo security equipment by government agencies at pre-negotiated prices, terms and conditions. The contract runs through September 2007.
- James J. Hodl
