There are basically two things that people do in casinos—they sit and gamble at the tables or slots or they sit and watch games in the sports book. If you’re a casino proprietor, you’d probably prefer that the vast majority of patrons sitting in the sports book finish their drinks and get back to blackjack, poker, craps or the slots.
Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Okla., sought a solution for keeping their sports-enthused visitors in the gambling area. It entered a massive remodeling project on its South Casino with a big emphasis on new audio, video and digital signage.
It wanted not only to add more energy to the gaming floor but to keep casino guests staying longer and playing more, according to digital signage maker CastNET, a manufacturing offshoot of Edina, Minn.-based integration firm Alpha Video & Audio.
Integrator Takeaways:
1. All sources go into the core Cisco switch as IPTV multicast streams.
2. Each TV screen is connected to an Enseo HD3100 with Pro Idiom set-top box using an HDMI cable.
3. Set-top box is connected to the Cisco edge switches using Cat 5/6 cabling.
End User Takeaways:
1. Digital signage can serve to direct customers to where they ought to be.
2. IPTV digital signage is a cost-effective and flexible option.
3. Pay attention to the back end of a digital signage network.
Equipment Highlights:
CastNET’s digital signage solution is an IPTV network, Cisco edge switches, 29 PE55C Samsung displays; 10 PD46C Samsung displays, TVOne C3-540 Coriomaster, Crestron automation
“A major objective for the digital signage system was to keep guests at the gaming tables when a major sporting event is happening by allowing a staff person to easily switch between a digital signage channel to a TV channel on any screen in the casino,” says Jerry Gale, professional services marketer for CastNET.
CastNET’s digital signage solution is an IPTV network. All the sources go into the core Cisco switch as IPTV multicast streams. At the other end of the network, each TV screen is connected to an Enseo HD3100 with Pro Idiom set-top box using an HDMI cable. The set-top box is connected to the Cisco edge switches using Cat 5/6 cabling.
“To allow employees to switch the channels, a CastNET IP Manager software resides on the CastNET server and manages the routing of HDTV channels and digital signage channels,” Gale says. “Accessing the CastNET IP Manager is accomplished three ways: CastNET web interface, Crestron control panel or a smart phone or tablet using CastNET’s web control interface.”
Alpha Video installed 29 PE55C Sam-sung displays and 10 PD46C Samsung dis-plays in Choctaw Casino. Many gamblers’ eyes are drawn to the 48-foot-wide video wall installed in the off-track betting area with six Sony VPL-FH500 projectors feed-ing the screen.
“The objective for the video wall is to show multiple races or events simultaneously,” Gale says.
