- ( Link | Blog post ) In Praise of Teletext - Gaurdian Unlimited
- ( Link | Blog post ) Don't press the red button! - Guardian Unlimited
- ( Link | Blog post ) Teletext then... But now? - Techmark
- ( Link | Blog post ) Ceefax marks 30 years of service - BBC
- ( Link | Blog post ) Interactive TV still 'Teletext on steroids' - BBC (2002)
- ( Link | Blog post ) Beeb pulls the plug on racing coverage - ThisisLondon
Monday, 1 October 2007
News articles, compiled
With the death of teletext as we know it imminent, recent times have seen a flurry of media attention, mainly to do with its demise. This is a collection of the news stories from elsewhere on this blog.
Teletext artists, compiled
There are a selection of artists that could be termed 'teletext artists'. Here are some of those that have utilised teletext as a medium for art, previously examined in this blog compiled into a list.
Teletext and the home computer
The page linked below is a relatively new one and offers the chance to "enjoy teletext whilst it is still around". It mentions the service will probably stay for subtitling but I think this will also perhaps be phased out to interactive TV.
The real reason I include this page is some of the imagery. Nice use of the teletext aesthetic for headings and a very descriptive animated gif test page.
Win TTX - Teletext for Windows 95/98
Incidentally, note that the font in this image is different to the one found in my screencaps and also the ones from Teletext Then and Now. I believe this is down to encoding of individual television screens and maybe their resolutions.
On Windows computer systems, there is a selection of typefaces built for Teletext viewing - a series of .ttf fixed width character sets. These are named wst_engl, wst_ital, wst_germ etc. to reflect the characters of different languages. I presume these are named after World System Teletext.
Again, however, this is only relevant to Windows systems and it does not exist on Mac systems. Here is a slight difference between the teletext and computer formats: teletext was standardised to one type, whereas there exist many computer browsers and operating systems.
This is interesting - Microsoft programmed them in expecting the mediums of the home PC and teletext to converge at some point. This prediction was partially correct.
Teletext - a Flickr photoset
I have created a photoset on Flickr for the screencaptures I make during this project. I won't put anything from websites like Teletext Then and Now on there as they're already on the Internet, and besides, I didn't capture them.
A bit more on formats
Teletext is no stranger to re-contextualisation. In the last few years it has been ripped apart, bludgeoned, streamlined and fancified all in the name of progress. With the introduction of interactive TV, the traditional format is dying out. I'm not sure if HD supports the traditional teletext format, I have only seen pictures of it with interactive TV. However there are adverts for TVs that are labelled teletext: HD ready. If this is possible, it would be interesting to see the old teletext aesthetic on this new, ultra-modern medium, even if it is contrived.
Likewise, I would like to see traditional teletext on an iPod. I don't even know if this is possible but it would make for an interesting piece of contextual artwork, contrasting the old, almost defunct, with a new, thriving medium. Note that the image to the right is a mock-up of what teletext may look like. I don't know if iPods have internet browsers but if they do this is what teletext might be like.
Apple do provide a teletext widget for Macs:
Mac teletext viewer
It is definitely possible to get teletext on your mobile. The below images prove this:
Likewise, I would like to see traditional teletext on an iPod. I don't even know if this is possible but it would make for an interesting piece of contextual artwork, contrasting the old, almost defunct, with a new, thriving medium. Note that the image to the right is a mock-up of what teletext may look like. I don't know if iPods have internet browsers but if they do this is what teletext might be like.Apple do provide a teletext widget for Macs:
Mac teletext viewer
It is definitely possible to get teletext on your mobile. The below images prove this:
This isn't just a text service - the image on the right shows someone using teletext on their mobile in the traditional format.
ITV Teletext
Some pages from Teletext, ITV's resident teletext service. The top one is a rather cruddy advert typical of Teletext, a commercial service. Design wise, it is easy to see why people don't bother with teletext art - why bother with fancy art when you can just tell people with plain text? After all, there are only 15 seconds between each sub page so there isn't much time to take things in. However this advert is just awful - I think it's the lime green background - not to mention it being a trashy mobile phone game ad. Bleh.The second screen is a full page dedicated to ITV's website, presumably the beginnings of the end of ITV's teletext service. The screens found from 600-700 on ITV have not changed for years and the content is the same as New Year's Day from about 2005! A notice of this can be found on the main page (600), a screenshot of which is the third image.
Teletext in other formats
Been considering some of the possible ideas for final presentations with 11 weeks to go. Some I can see working better than others but for now I will continue collating info in this weblog.
The very first idea I came up with was the presentation of my research in the teletext format. This was met with doubt by tutors so the idea was put on the shelf for a while. However I have been considering a bit further how this could be made to work and have been coming around to the idea. Sure it would be restrictive, but that would be part of the project itself.
This has already been partly explored on the microsite with PixelText. This takes the form of a Flash piece with a few devices used by the format - fastext, numbered menus, flashing banner adverts etc. The microsite itself (right) has been formatted to be in the format, even if it isn't 'hardcore' remaining 100% faithful to the medium.
With the HTML format, as exhibited in the microsite main page, there are naturally problems. I could conceivably format this so as to stick to the 40x60 palette but the exact appearance in other browsers is not guaranteed. Also, different systems use different system fonts, rendering 'FixedSys' useless on browsers other than IE. I have resorted here to using Courier, another fixed-width font that is much more common and recognisable by most browsers. This obviously is not ideal in remaining faithful to the medium but is an adaptation for another format.
Thus may be evident another possible area to explore: re-contextualising teletext for other formats, maybe newer more 'modern' media. In the past, the format has been ported to BBC Micro and in recent years teletext has been formatted for a number of online browsers. I could take this one, or even two steps further, exploring what the format may possibly be like in forms such as mobile phone screens and even High Definition. The latter would open up a range of possibilities, including having a whole teletext hierarchy fit onto a single HDTV screen, highlighting the difference in resolution between the two to a new extreme.
The very first idea I came up with was the presentation of my research in the teletext format. This was met with doubt by tutors so the idea was put on the shelf for a while. However I have been considering a bit further how this could be made to work and have been coming around to the idea. Sure it would be restrictive, but that would be part of the project itself.
This has already been partly explored on the microsite with PixelText. This takes the form of a Flash piece with a few devices used by the format - fastext, numbered menus, flashing banner adverts etc. The microsite itself (right) has been formatted to be in the format, even if it isn't 'hardcore' remaining 100% faithful to the medium.With the HTML format, as exhibited in the microsite main page, there are naturally problems. I could conceivably format this so as to stick to the 40x60 palette but the exact appearance in other browsers is not guaranteed. Also, different systems use different system fonts, rendering 'FixedSys' useless on browsers other than IE. I have resorted here to using Courier, another fixed-width font that is much more common and recognisable by most browsers. This obviously is not ideal in remaining faithful to the medium but is an adaptation for another format.
Thus may be evident another possible area to explore: re-contextualising teletext for other formats, maybe newer more 'modern' media. In the past, the format has been ported to BBC Micro and in recent years teletext has been formatted for a number of online browsers. I could take this one, or even two steps further, exploring what the format may possibly be like in forms such as mobile phone screens and even High Definition. The latter would open up a range of possibilities, including having a whole teletext hierarchy fit onto a single HDTV screen, highlighting the difference in resolution between the two to a new extreme.
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