Live Casino Technology: How It Works?
What is Live Casino Technology? A live casino is, in essence, a traditional casino, except players can participate in games while in the comfort of their homes. Live casinos may be popular now, but they weren’t as prominent back in the day, especially during the first few years of their introduction to the gambling industry, and for two main reasons.
One, much like any new idea, the concept of a virtual casino took time to gain traction in the gambling world. And, two, the technology back then was a bit lacking, especially with the slow Internet speed, which often resulted in delays while live casinos streamed their games. However, as you may have noticed in today’s live casinos, the lack of technology is no longer an issue.
Most live casinos nowadays, like AplikasiQQ, and other similar platforms, exhibit fast-loading and high-quality video streams. But, despite having been around for a long time, a lot of people have yet to fully understand the technology behind live casinos. If you’re one of these individuals, you’re in the right place, as this article tackles several aspects of live casino technology.
But, first, what is a live casino?
What Is A Live Casino?
A live casino is, in essence, a traditional casino, except players can participate in games while in the comfort of their homes. It operates similarly to standard casinos, where the player can choose which games they’ll play, be it blackjack, roulette, baccarat, or poker, and how much they’re willing to bet on the casino table. Of course, the winner can earn money through such games.
One thing to note about live casinos is that they’re different from the online casinos you can play on the Internet. For one, players can interact with dealers in a live casino using a chat function.
Moreover, these dealers are actual humans, unlike online casinos where a computer AI serves as the dealer. Therefore, the shuffling of cards or spinning of wheels is authentic. That’s why live casinos have become quite popular—they give off an authentic feel to virtual gambling, which often allows players to feel like they’re actually in a real casino rather than a virtual one.
But, while the dealers and other staff play a vital role in live casinos; the most important element of these platforms is technology. And, just like most modern tech, live casino technology consists of two aspects: (1) hardware and (2) software.
Live Casino Technology: Hardware
For the player to participate in live casino games, the service provider must stream everything that happens on the casino table. They typically use a high-end streaming setup to make this possible.
The streaming setup mainly consists of the following hardware:
HD Cameras
Each casino table consists of HD cameras that broadcast everything that happens on the table in real-time. In most cases, the service provider uses several cameras for each casino table to provide players with different angles of the games they play, such as a top view or a zoom-in on the cards, which enables players to immerse themselves in the games.
Monitor
In front of the dealer is a monitor that displays all sorts of information for the dealer to see. For example, it shows the nicknames of each of the players participating in the game.
The monitor also consists of the chatbox, which is the reason why dealers can interact with players in real-time. And, lastly, the monitor has a user interface (UI) from which the dealer can view helpful information; such as the bet history of the game. The UI also shows the moves of each player; such as when they place a bet or draw a card from the deck.
Service providers may use other pieces of equipment to improve their experience; such as a special camera for virtual reality gaming. Nevertheless, these two are the minimum requirements to operate a live casino; aside from the software, which you’ll get to know about in the next section.
Live Casino Technology: Software
Although the hardware is, indeed, critical, a live casino can’t properly operate without the use of specific software. In particular, a live casino typically uses two pieces of software to streamline its games. These include the game control unit (GCU) and optical character recognition (OCR):
Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
OCR is the process of converting characters into code only a computer or machine can understand. For example, during a game of roulette, if the ball lands on the number 17; the OCR technology would convert this into a code that only the GCU software can understand. This piece of software is installed in most HD cameras on casino tables.
Game Control Unit (GCU)
The GCU is technically hardware since it’s a small device attached to the casino table. However, each GCU device consists of a piece of software that performs the following tasks:
- Receives the code from OCR software or technology
- Converts the code into readable data
- Sends the readable to the player’s screen.
The GCU and OCR software work together behind the scenes to ensure the player knows what’s going on at the table. Without one or the other, the technology won’t work correctly.
How Does Live Casino Technology Work?
You now know the components of live casino technology, but you may not understand how they work together. To further illustrate, here’s the step-by-step process of how the technology works:
- Several players join the game via the service provider’s software or website.
- The monitor displays the nickname of each player for the dealer to see.
- The game starts, and a player makes a move using the software (e.g., bet on 17 in a game of roulette; change a card in poker, draw an extra card in blackjack, etc.)
- The software receives the input from the player corresponding to the said move and displays it to the dealer via the monitor.
- The dealer then executes the move accordingly in real-time while the players watch.
- Throughout each game, the camera captures every occurrence on the table (e.g., a ball lands on 17 in roulette, a player gets a royal flush in poker, etc.).
- The OCR takes the images and converts them into machine-readable code.
- The GCU gets the code from the OCR and converts it into a human-readable medium (e.g., a box with the text ‘The ball has landed on 17,’ or ‘You got a royal flush!”).
- The GCU displays the human-readable medium on the player’s screen.
Final Words
Despite the popularity of live casinos, only a few people have an in-depth understanding of how their technology works. After all, it’s not exactly necessary if you simply want to engage in this kind of activity. However, if you plan to establish your own live casino or sharpen your skills for the next time you participate as a player; such knowledge will most definitely be helpful.
