Few manufacturers bring the technological background to the gaming space like ADLINK and the company will have plenty of industry advancements on display at this year’s G2E.
As an industrial computer manufacturer developing products for many different verticals, the company brings deep experience beyond gaming. Senior Director of ODM and Technical Sales Support Scott Salzman believes that background gives ADLINK an edge in the market.
“Our experience is much deeper than just gaming,” he says. “We have a lot of history and experience in gaming. We bring a lot to the table when it comes to innovation.”
Specially designing industrial computer systems for gaming clients is a major part of that, with some of the biggest game developers in the industry seeking out ADLINK’s expertise.
“We don’t really sell standard product to a lot of these tier-one gaming companies that we do business with,” Salzman says. “Maybe we take our standard product and modify it, make something custom for them. A lot of what we do is ODM (original design manufacturing), where we take the customer’s requirements and design what they want.”
While the manufacturer offers standard products to customers as well, that custom-design capability sets ADLINK apart. Another key differentiator is that the company puts together the entire electronic link for slot machines, including game controller, GPU, and graphics.
Most of the largest companies in the industry work with ADLINK and Salzman recently spoke about some of the key aspects of the company.
Advanced technology complemented by ruggedness and longevity
ADLINK is a complete design manufacturer that builds its own product. Nothing is outsourced, giving the team complete oversight for customers. A product can be designed to meet customer requirements, not only electronically, but also physically. That includes creating prototypes for evaluation, then launching into mass production. The company also manages the product throughout its entire life.
“That’s another very important distinction between what we do and a lot of our competitors,” Salzman says. “We own the responsibility for our customers to manage the product to the lifecycle. Our customers in gaming and many other verticals demand longevity. They need the product to be available for a long period of time. That’s not as easy as it sounds.”
ADLINK’s diverse background helps in bringing quality products to the gaming floor. Machines in a casino can take a beating at times and making sure they’re built to last is an ADLINK priority. The product undergoes significant stress tests to ensure ruggedness and reliability.
“We’re not just developing gaming equipment with the knowledge of gaming. We also have background knowledge on how to develop a rugged computer for a military vehicle dealing with harsh environments and high temperatures, vibration, all that kind of stuff,” Salzman says. “We have a lot of experience in a lot of industries that help gaming.”
Next-generation curved displays
Along with significant experience in computer manufacturing, ADLINK brings cutting-edge display technology to gaming and other industries. The manufacturer is partially owned by AUO, one of the largest display manufacturers in the world, which gives ADLINK some critical advantages.
“We have access to a lot of display technologies that we’re using as a leverage to get into gaming and to meet the gaming needs in other areas besides just computers,” Salzman says.
Curved-display technology is a growing part of the industry. These high-tech products allow for a more immersive experience on the casino floor, with high-end graphics that slot players have come to appreciate.
“AUO has technology that can be very compelling for gaming relative to curved displays,” Salzman says.
Every aspect of the gaming experience is taken into account: brightness, color depth, angle of view, reflection, type of touch controllers, touchscreen, and more. These are the types of attributes gaming customers demand and ADLINK is staying at the forefront of these innovations.
ADLINK’s latest AHVA Curva is next-generation curved display technology built for immersive casino-gaming environments and builds on the strengths of IPS (in-plane switching) technology. AHVA Curva, which will be on display at G2E this year, along with numerous other ADLINK products, combines wide viewing angles and color consistency with significantly higher contrast and immersive curved form factors, ADLINK Director of Gaming and Edge Solution CT Wu says.
AHVA Curva isn’t simply another curved LCD. It takes the visual strengths customers associate with IPS wide viewing angles and consistent color, evolving into a curved architecture designed specifically for immersive gaming. This provides richer visual impact, greater cabinet differentiation, and the reliability required for continuous casino operation.
“We combine not only the immersive display in the stack, but we consider the total cost ownership, the business continuity to provide the next-generation dedicated design for the casino gaming market,” Wu says. “The main message is that with AHVA editing, we want to provide premium curved-display performance and this has to be repeatable today and supportable for years.”
ADLINK continues to be a trendsetter in industrial computer technology for the gaming industry and customers can get a first-hand look at what the company has to offer at G2E in Las Vegas.
