How HD and multi-camera shooting works in studios

Introduction: The TV shop inside iGaming

Live-Casino Studio is a mini-TV center: real tables, several cameras, light, sound, directorial, graphics and encoding. The task is to give an "honest" table picture, a beautiful broadcast and at the same time maintain an ultra-low delay (usually sub-2 seconds to the player).

Basic Image Standards

Formats: HD (1080p50/60) - gold standard; 4K (2160p50/60) - for premium zones and crop tops without loss of sharpness.

Frequencies: 50/59. 94/60 fps for region and infrastructure. Higher frequency reduces the blur in the dealer's quick actions.

Shutter: equivalent to 1/100-1/250 for "clean" cards without a loop; adjustment to the network/light frequency (anti-flicker).

Color/Dynamics: SDR Rec. 709 - default; HDR is rarely used (more difficult in chain and delays).

Cameras: PTZ + movie plans

PTZ cameras (panning/tilting/zoom) - workhorses for general and medium plans, remote control from the equipment room.

Movie/broadcast cameras with fix optics - for macro (roulette, cards, chips); a larger sensor gives a "plastic" close-up.

Optics: fast zooms/macro, polarizing filters against the glare of a lacquered table, "breathing" zooms are avoided with macro.

Focus: auto + manual with zone limits; critical for "squeeze" in baccarat and ball rotation.

Typical arrangement:

1. Common Room (PTZ), 2) Dealer Shoulder/Table (PTZ), 3) Macro on Wheel/Ace King (Movie Camera), 4) "Flying" Plan for game-show (Crane/Rails/Steadicam).

Light: readability is more important than "gloss"

CRI 95 + panels/softboxes, flat key and filling light, without hard shadows on the betting field.

Anti-flicker: driver frequencies for cadence 50/60; do not mix cheap LEDs.

Accents: separate zones for the wheel, dealer hands, chips; a backlight separates the figure from the background.

Color temperature: uniform (usually 5600K) + white balance of cameras.

Sound: Pure dealer speech

Mixes: dealer's buttonhole + shotgan above the table; avtodak on the noise of the hall.

Processing: gate, compressor, light de-essing; mono sum without phase surprises.

Noise reduction: acoustic panels, insulation from adjacent tables.

Synchronization: everything must "breathe" in one beat

Genlock (black burst/tri-level) - so that the cameras do not "float."

PTP/NTP - a single time for video and game server events.

Timecode (LTC/VITC/network) - for ISO recording and subsequent audit.

Tally/Intercom: lamps tally on cameras + rezhissyor↔operatory/diler communication (IFB).

Switching and graphics

Video mixer (switcher): the director cuts plans, displays a peak-in-peak, no slowdown is applied (delay).

Graphic layer: betting timer, backlight of the winning zone, player names/chat offscreen - render on a CG station or in the client's engine.

Keying/virtual studios: Chromakey and AR overlays for the game-show, while making sure that bet locators remain readable.

Signal chain and coding

Studio transport: SDI 3G/12G for reliability; NDI/ST-2110 - in IP studios.

Encoders: hardware H.264 (base )/HEVC (bitrate saving) with profiles for WebRTC (ultra-low latency) + LL-HLS/DASH reserve.

Audio: AAC 128-192 kbps, sometimes Opus for WebRTC.

Latency: the budget of the "kamera→enkoder→CDN→kliyent" is kept ≤2 with; in case of drawdowns - adaptive bitrate without breaking the session.

Multi-camera directing: frame language

Plans: general - for context, medium - for dealer actions, large - for result (card, pocket).

The rule "one result - one confident large": the viewer must see the outcome without guesswork.

Pace: adjusts to the rhythm of the game: "the betting window → large on the hands → common for the atmosphere → macro result."

Anti-shutter: PTZ-smoothness, crane - with dampers, soft-start/stop.

Color and mapping between cameras

CCU/Color-shading: the operator "paints" the exposure/gamma/curves so that all cameras match in tone/balance.

LUT-pipeline: technical LUT for monitoring + creative LUT for halls, but without distortion of readability of cards/chips.

Control of glare: polarization, black velvet "absorbers" at the edges of the field.

ISO recording and auditing

ISO-record: record of each input + program output; storage according to the regulations.

Watermark/timestamps: Time overlay and round ID for quick search.

Event logs: changes of plans, closing bets, fixing the result - synchronized with the video.

Reliability and redundancy

N + 1: duplicates of cameras, encoders, sweaters, power (UPS/generator).

Failover routes: alternative SDI/IP paths; hot switching without "black."

Monitoring: 95th percentile delay, drop frames, audio clipping, overheating cameras; alerts on-call.

Plan B: a table of which plan is taken by which camera in case of neighboring failure.

Latency: how not to "kill" a live experience

Minimize buffers in the codec and on the client.

WebRTC signaling with real-time priority; LL-HLS as a fallback.

Guard timers: closing bets a little earlier than a physical event is "fair time" for everyone.

Arrangement of cameras: practical schemes

Roulette:

K1 - general with emphasis on the dealer;
K2 - macro per wheel (above the axle);
K3 - diagonal on the betting field;
K4 - atmosphere/logo/panorama.

Blackjack/Baccarat:

K1 - common table;
K2 - "hands/cards" at 45 °;
K3 - frontal large for "squeeze";
K4 - emotions/scoreboard/graphics.

Survey and operation hygiene

Every shift calibration of white balance and exposure.

Wiping the optics/filters, checking the seals of the schfflers/distributors.

Weekly tests of "black" and "color stripes," measurement of noise/broken pixels.

Current camera/encoder firmware, blue-green update plan.

Checklist before the broadcast (studio)

1. The cameras are synchronized (genlock), the white balance is the same.

2. The light is normal, there are no glare on the field/wheel.

3. Dealer microphones and shotgun - level/noise/compression approx.

4. Bet timer, graphics and tally work, delay in budget.

5. ISO-record and timecode are written, alerts are clean.

6. Backup chains are checked (camera/encoder/CDN).

Operator's checklist during the session

Follow close-ups at the time of the result.

Do not abuse zooms/moves to the "betting window."

When out of sync - keep a stable plan and signal the technique.

Document incidents (time, camera, description).

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Lack of visibility of the dealer's hands → the player "does not read" the face value of the card. Solution: local softbox/flag.

Torn PTZ zoom → a "cheap" effect. Solution: presets and slow curves.

Different white balance on cameras → a colorful picture. Solution: single color map and CCU.

The loud hall in the mix is → tiring. Solution: expander/gate, speech prioritization.

Client buffering → latency is increasing. Solution: WebRTC profiles, minimal buffers, network indicator.

A high-quality HD/multi-camera studio is a combination of precise synchronization, clear light and sound, proper direction and careful signal delivery. When the cameras are color coordinated, close-ups are readable, and the delay is predictable, the viewer effortlessly sees the result and trusts the broadcast. This directly increases retention, reduces controversy, and forms a strong, "expensive" image of the Live product.