Live dealer casino games have become a staple offering of any good online casino. These games are able to bring the traditional casino environment to wherever a player wants to enjoy them without compromising on the experience or authenticity of these games.
Player demands have dictated that casinos must make these options available. Gamers want to enjoy convenience and accessibility whenever they want, especially as traditional brick-and-mortar casinos are not always the easiest of places to get to. This is perhaps highlighted by the fact that the live casino market is expected to reach $3.7 billion by 2025.
Plenty of advanced technologies are used
Of course, technology has helped operators and software providers create the highest levels of immersion and ultra-realistic gameplay experiences. Studios require various types of technology to be able to provide players with everything that they need to feel as though they are in the environment that has been designed.
Cameras are the most obvious, as players need to be able to see the game being played in front of them. These pieces of equipment have to be of the highest quality, though, as they need to depict clear and sharp images and be able to handle internet bandwidth when being streamed. Various cameras will also often be set up to give players numerous views of the game to replicate an authentic experience. The quality of the picture is often a key factor in ensuring a game is playable and enjoyable.
Monitors, microphones, and video streaming technologies are also extremely important in providing a realistic gameplay session for live dealer games. However, those who provide a collection of card games that can be found in this niche of the online casino industry require tech that can allow cards to be read easily and be shown on the screen.
Three tech methods used to depict cards in live dealer games
There are three methods that can be used to effectively and efficiently highlight the playing cards and their values when displaying a live dealer card game from a studio to a player.
1. Barcode Scanning
Barcode scanning can be one of the most commonly used methods. Casinos will use this in the same way that shops and retailers scan the barcodes on the products that they sell. The technology will allow casinos to scan the cards that are shown with unique barcodes, which will then reveal their values in a digital form. These will then be shown in real-time, thus eliminating any potential slowness that may have been feared.
It is a simple and reliable method that has been widely used as it relies on correct barcodes and nothing else. Problems can arise if they get confused, but this is rare once they have already been set.
2. RFID Technology
RFID technology – which stands for radio frequency identification – follows a similar approach to the one used with barcode scanning. However, it is a little more technical and advanced, as it utilizes a small computer chip that has been placed in each card of a deck. Therefore, it can require more specialized equipment.
When a card is drawn, a radio frequency will be transmitted to the scanner, which will then be able to tell players what the card is in its digital form. The information that players have will then be provided in real-time, thus giving them a clear picture of what they may have and what they may be able to do.
3. OCR Technology
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is probably the most sophisticated technology that online casinos have at their disposal and one method which they will typically turn towards to deliver a seamless gameplay experience. This is because the technology used is complicated, sophisticated and offers a high level of adaptability.
When a casino that offers live dealer games is operational, OCR software and special cameras will be employed to instantly recognize the card values of each dealt hand and transmit them into a digital capacity so they can appear in actual time. It is a completely automated process and also can offer an easy user-friendly interface to players as well as casinos.
Verdict
All three of the above-mentioned types of card recognition technologies are, in fact, widely used throughout the entire live dealer casino industry. Each one provides studios and developers with a set of particular benefits that can enhance gameplay quality appreciated by their customers.
OCR tech is the standard for many across the casino industry, although either of the other ones works just as effectively.