November 3, 2022

The Technology Behind Live Casino Games

Live dealer games changed the online casino world when they first hit screens, and saying they were popular would be a huge understatement. The live casino game sector is one of the main drivers of the huge revenue that the gambling industry makes. But possibly the biggest advancement these games have brought is the same great gameplay you would find in an actual casino.

These great live casino games can be found at the casinos featured on CasinoOnlineIn, all of them capturing the atmosphere of a traditional casino. But have you ever taken a look at what goes on behind the scenes and these games actually work? Let’s take a closer look:

OCR Technology

PCR or Optical Character Recognition, is one of the most crucial technologies when it comes to living casino games. The tech was developed for the use of these games back at the start of the 90s – it was originally created to help with digitizing paper documents and newspapers. Before OCR was developed, everything had to be manually entered. As you can imagine, this led to inaccuracies and took a lot of time.

The OCR technology allows analog information to be converted to digital. When we take this into the context of live casino games, this means that everything that happens in a live casino gaming studio can be captured and streamed straight to whatever device the player is playing on.

Game studios would use special playing cards that have barcodes of tiny computer chips in them, relaying information via RFID or Radio Frequency Identification tech. Every card that hit the table would be scanned, and the correct suit and number translated digitally. This digital information was then shown to the player.

Over time, this method became outdated, so many live casino studios switched to using OCR technology. The OCR tech allows for greater accuracy and efficiency in dealing with the cards, meaning smoother games for players.

Lighting

One downside to OCR is the fact it only works in short range and with adequate lighting. This is one of the reasons why you’ll see special lighting in live gaming casinos – they often spend a pretty penny just on lighting the studio. One of the biggest gaming studios to implement special lighting measures is Evolution Gaming.

The renowned software developer started off using halogen lighting but noticed this type of lighting simply couldn’t meet the demands of the 24/7 games they were hosting. Evolution countered the situation by investing in a specialist light set-up from a company that develops lighting for television studios.

The GCU

GCU stands for Game Control Unit and is yet another vital part of the tech behind these games. The GCU encodes game information to be displayed to the dealers of the games using a sensor or special scanner.

Aside from giving dealers up-to-date information as well as storing data, it also displays information for the players. The GCU will automatically track a player’s cards or the numbers on roulette and notify players as to whether they have won or lost that bet.

High-End Cameras

It would be no good playing a live casino game if it was streamed in fuzzy 480p definition. These cameras are vital in every live casino game as it’s where all the action is! So it will come as no surprise that the top live casino studios dish out when it comes to camera equipment.

Players will often be able to take advantage of multiple camera angles in each game – such as a close-up of the roulette wheel/table, a wide shot including the dealer, and various other angles to boot.

Some of the biggest developers, such as Evolution Gaming, have more than 12 cameras showing certain games, so players never miss out on anything.

Numerous Monitors

Finally, an often overlooked piece of tech is the monitors. Live dealers will use various monitors to keep track of various things – including the different wagers of players and the decisions they make.

One handy aspect of the dealers using these monitors is that they can prompt players to make bets when the timer for placing bets is running low or remind players it’s their hand if it’s a game with multiple players at a table.

About the author 

Elle Gellrich


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