A BBC Ceefax page from 10 September 1999

Ceefax (phonetic for "See Facts") is the BBC's teletext information service. Image File history File links A Teletext page from the BBC This work is copyrighted. ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest public broadcasting corporation in the world. ... A BBC Ceefax page from the 10th September 1999. ...

The system was announced in October 1972 and following test transmissions in 1973-1974 the Ceefax system went live on the 23 September 1974 with thirty pages. Developed by BBC engineers who were working on ways of providing televisual subtitles for the deaf, it was the first teletext system in the world. Other broadcasters soon took up the idea. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

Over the years the technology became the standard European teletext system and replaced other standards, for example the Antiope system in France. Antiope was a French teletext standard in the 1980s. ...

In 1983, Ceefax started to broadcast programs (known as telesoftware) for the BBC Micro, a home computer from the BBC. This stopped in 1989. (A similar idea was the French C Plus Direct satellite channel which used different, higher speed technology to broadcast PC software.) Telesoftware was the broadcasting of programs for home computers via Teletext. ... The BBC Micro, affectionately known as the Beeb, was an early home computer. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest public broadcasting corporation in the world. ...

Aside from small changes such as the introduction of colour (1976) and the four-page receivers with "Fasttext" shortcut buttons (early 1990s), the technology has remained the same since its introduction and now has a quite dated appearance. Considering this, it is remarkable that teletext remained the main source of interactive information in British homes until the mid 2000s when it was superceded by broadband internet and digital teletext. As the BBC's digital broadcasts now carry BBCi, Ceefax will almost certainly be retired when the UK goes through with its analogue switchoff around 2012. BBCi is the brand name for the BBCs interactive television services. ... The transition to Digital television is a process that follows different paces around the world. ...

The current Ceefax service holds info on a wide range of topics, such as News, Sport, Weather, TV Listings and Business. These pages are kept extremely up to date and are usually the first to report a breaking story or headline.

Since 2006, the BBC is promoting the reuse of the Ceefax page numbers on the Freeview and digital satellite BBCi Ceefax-replacement services. FreeView is a non-profit free-to-air digital television service planned for New Zealand. ... BBCi is the brand name for the BBCs interactive television services. ...

Technology

Ceefax uses the World System Teletext standard (originally CEPT1). As with other teletext systems, text and simple graphics are transmitted in-band with the picture signal, and decoded by controller circuitry. Almost all television sets sold in the UK come with decoder hardware. World System Teletext (or WST) is the name of the first successful standard for encoding and displaying teletext information, and is used as the standard for teletext throughout Europe today. ... CEPT1 was a standard set in 1974 by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) for the display of Videotex. ... A BBC Ceefax page from the 10th September 1999. ...

Pages from Ceefax

Those without access to teletext-equipped sets can still view limited Ceefax content via the Pages from Ceefax slot on BBC One and Two. This consists of selected Ceefax pages (typically news) transmitted as an ordinary TV picture. As a result, although Pages from Ceefax can be viewed on any set, there is no interactivity or choice, rather negating the purpose of the original concept. Braun HF 1, Germany, 1958 Casio TV-470 pocket color television (RadioShack Pocketvision 25 in the US) Television is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound over a distance. ... BBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest television station in the world. ... BBC Two (or BBC2 as it was formerly styled) was the second UK television station to be aired by the BBC and Europes first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour (from 1967), envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming. ... News is new information or current events. ...

The audio accompaniment for Pages from Ceefax broadcasts typically consists of some form of easy listening music (between 2000 and 2005 the music was typically sourced from music production libraries such as Funtastik, KPM or BMG Zomba - since 2006, the music is now sourced almost completley from Funtastik music, with a few tracks from Sunflower Music), muzak^{[citation needed]} or sometimes a discontinuous tone. Easy listening music is a style of popular music which emerged in the mid-20th century. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ...

Pages from Ceefax is normally only shown by the BBC in the absence of any other programming. Once a common filler during daytime (where it was very occasionally billed as Ceefax in Vision or Ceefax AM), it has been marginalised by the move towards a near-continuous service, where in recent years BBC News 24 would be placed in late night/early morning gaps in schedules. BBC News 24 is BBC News 24-hour news television channel in the UK, its international counterpart being BBC World. ...

Since September 2005, there has normally been a gap in the schedule between 6am and 7am (or thereabouts) on BBC Two to accommodate Pages from Ceefax. During holidays when The Learning Zone is off air, Ceefax is shown through the night on BBC2. The last BBC One network broadcast took place on 9 November 1997, although it is still occasionally shown on BBC One Scotland, normally to fill the gaps between opt-outs and The Sign Zone. The selection of pages broadcast now is significantly smaller than that shown during the late 1990s.

The limited set of rolling pages shown on Pages from Ceefax (referred to as a "newsreel") are also accessible at any time of day via Ceefax page 152 (BBC1 or BBC2) on any analogue teletext television.

External links

• Online representation of today's Ceefax
• More information and captures of CEEFAX pages
• BBC News article celebrating 30th anniversary of Ceefax
• View Ceefax on an Apple Mac using the OS X Dashboard feature
• "Pages from Ceefax" at Everything2