White the new look for revamped Lotto

Eventually Lotto tickets will have special designs

The yellow Lotto ticket is disappearing as part of a $40 million facelift and the new tickets will be white.

The Lotteries Commission is installing 1150 new terminals at its more than 830 Lotto outlets.

It is the second upgrade for the centralised computer system and the in-store terminals since Lotto began in 1987.

The upgrade coincides with a move to a new central computer, and has changed the look of Lotto tickets.

The tickets have changed colour a few times in the game's 19-year history - first pink and white, later blue, and then yellow. The new system means new printing, which allows for better-quality tickets.

The old systems used a ribbon printer, which tended to print hard-to-read stubs as the ribbon ran out.

According to the Lotto website, the new terminals are more sensitive than their predecessors and print on white "thermal" paper, favoured by Lotto operators around the world.

It is expected more colours - some will be pale yellow - and "design features" will be added to tickets.

Commission spokeswoman Helen Morgan-Banda said the $40 million upgrade would probably be completed in several weeks. She said the renovations were part of regular upgrades, and both the existing and new-generation machines were capable of reading both types of Lotto ticket.

She said there could be "a few little hiccups" as the new machines were installed but the commission had so far received only a couple of calls.

It was possible a few Lotto ticket holders might have experienced difficulty when having their tickets checked, but "you can't bring in a new system and not have a few small problems".

If any customers were not happy with the checking of their cards, they should take their tickets to a second operator, or check out the lotteries website for winning numbers, she said.

"I am pretty confident that our retailers have had good training, and we will be able to manage."