Digitally encoded Teletext

Been playing around with my analogue television reception (an aerial) on my computer via my TV card. This actually allows for some interesting extras not present in the original, traditional television broadcast. To start, there is less distortion, as the service simply shows as a black screen if the quality of reception is not clear enough. Screens from this service shown below.


In addition, this service seems to be more efficient than traditional teletext. By pressing left and right keys one can scroll through the pages at one's own leisure and the up and down keys highlight the three-digit codes on the screen to be selected. There is still the option of entering a three digit code using the keypad however. The user still have to wait for the pages to load, which is quite time consuming. There are also mix and hold options but I still haven't found the button to make the text larger.

Teletext glitch art

Inspired by this image at Photobucket, thought it might be interesting to see what effects I could create using my analogue aerial and television with teletext. Some of the results are shown below, from Channel 5 and ITV's Teletext services.

Sometimes this stuff is more interesting than the actual content of Teletext today.

Teletext - up to date for the 21st Century

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umk-9CdPNg4Uploader's comment:
New ad campaign for Teletext: inspired. Standing for simplicity in an age of info, noise and overload is a great idea, and I love the football commentators... Also a nifty reworking of Trio's 1982 hit "Da Da Da"

Factor in the new look, very purple, website and this advert is in contrast to the 1975 one shown in the previous post and the differences in timespan are evident. Albeit embracing a different medium in presentation (TV advert, as opposed to an information leaflet), the focus here is on simplicity and getting across the bare facts in a world of sometimes too much information. The focus in the previous ad is on immediacy of information at a time that is convenient to the user. Whilst this is still an effective selling point of the modern teletext service it is evidently not a priority what with the Internet being the primary competition. This seems to be a factor which sees teletext survive today, albeit in its adapted, Digital TV format.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y06SuenLbY

Meanwhile, this video concentrates on the use of a teletext service via the Internet as its primary use. It's in a foreign language but it the rough message is transmitted.

Early advertising - Information at your fingertips

http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/timeline/flyer79.shtml
Just an interesting little information flyer from the early days of teletext, advertising a television receiver:

Click here for full size version

A few interesting and/or relevant observations:

The flyer states that to access the information, the user must first enter the number of the desired page, preceded by a 'p' button for 'page'. This seems to have died out since as it is rare today to see a teletext interface work this way. This could be said to be 'evolution', weeding out extra button presses in favour of ease and quickness of use.

"Teletext is transmitted through a regular 16 hour viewing day" - this is in contrast to today's 24-hour broadcasts of the service. Maybe they needed to switch off the service to give it a rest.

The article makes note that the service is in full-colour, something that would be a given today. However it's not really full colour, but limited to the teletext colour palette.

The whole language used is one of excitement and the innovative capabilities of this shiny new service, which "Immediacy is a major feature of... you get the information when you want it, not at pre-set times."

Teletext and the Internet - C4 information services

Planet Sound - http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/thewow/teleindex.htm
Digitiser
The Mega-Zine - http://www.vegetablerevolution.com/
Teletext category
Links from Wikipedia

Some elements of teletext become so popular that they make the transition from a large teletext 'community' to a credible Internet one. The above examples, all from Channel 4's Teletext service, developed a cult following on the teletext format and, with the traditional format's decline, the Internet serves to continue the 'legacy' they have left. In the case of Mega-Zine, it was taken from the broadcast before being 'brought back by popular demand' but only on the Digital format of the medium - Teletext Digital.

Planet Sound still exists, for now, but the inevitable rise of the Internet could see the web-based version of the service overtake the original, despite fervent interest from 'hard-core' traditionalists. It provides a music news service that is actually quite detailed for the format, even though the traditional method of condensing the info down into more 'managebale' chunks is still employed.

Pic from Myfirstairport.com.

A couple of small things

A teletext timeline
http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/timeline/

It has been suggested that maybe a timeline/wallchart could be one possible outcome for the ersearch project. Perhaps this could be transposed into a more Teletext-esque format for presentation.

Five text

Just a few screen grabs from one of my favourite teletext services, design-wise.

http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/channel5/end.shtml

On 31-Dec-2001 the contract for the main teletext service carried by Channel 5 expired and the ancillary service on magazine 5 was revamped.

Note the animated Gif showing the advertisements switching between frames, one possible conversion of the format for the web. Pro - remains faithful to the original format, is quicker. Con - not really interactive - no hold button.

Analogue shutdown

http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/bitstream/terrestrial/shutdown.php
http://freespace.virgin.net/john.cletheroe/freeview/faq.htm

A couple of questions concerning teletext and/or its functionalities in the forthcoming analogue shutdown, from the Freeview FAQ link above:

Does Freeview have subtitles?
The font used for subtitles on most Freeview boxes is superior to that used for Ceefax and Teletext on most analogue televisions. However, Freeview lacks mix mode, so subtitles are always displayed on a black rectangular background. That makes them easier to read, but more distracting for other viewers.
...
Because subtitles are added to the picture by the Freeview box, they will be recorded by a VCR, provided they are enabled at the time when the recording is made.

What provision is there for regional variations on Freeview?
BBCi, the BBC's digital text system, does not appear to be regionalised yet, judging by its television schedule listings.
Teletext on Freeview channel 100 is fully regionalised.

The first of these displays one or two elements that will be lost from the traditional teletext system. The 'mix' mode, whilst debatably useless, was a hallmark of teletext upon its inception. However nowadays there is less use for this function apart from with subtitles. Maybe in time this will be incorporated into the newer digital boxes but at least in my opinion the white text on the black background is far easier to read, despite its obstruction of more of the viewing area.

The second point made in the first question is recordability. Whereas previously people would have to purchase a special decoder to connect to a VCR in order to record subtitles, the overlay of pictures on Freeview (in this case) means it will be possible to tape with an ordinary VCR or a DVD recorder.

Finally, the second question adresses the problem of regional teletext. It is expected that this will be developed in the future, but for now, all services are merged into one and navigation between regions is made via an area selection page.

The Death of Teletext?
Finally, a screenshot which will become more and more familiar over the coming few years: