In telecommunication, a viewdata is a Videotex implementation, a type of information-retrieval service in which a subscriber can (a) access a remote database via a common carrier channel, (b) request data, and (c) receive requested data on a video display over a separate channel. Copy of the original phone of Graham Bell at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris Telecommunication is the transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. ... Videotex is a system for sending of pages of text to a user in computer form, typically to be displayed on a television. ... The ASCII codes for the word Wikipedia represented in binary, the numeral system most commonly used for encoding computer information. ... Subscriber: In a public switched telecommunications network such as the common telephone system, the ultimate user, customer, of a communications service. ... Look up access in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The term or expression database originated within the computer industry. ... A common carrier is an organization that transports persons or goods, and offers its services to the general public. ... Channel, in communications (sometimes called communications channel), refers to the medium used to convey information from a sender (or transmitter) to a receiver. ... In general, data consist of propositions that reflect reality. ... Video (Latin for I see, first person singular present, indicative of videre, to see) is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion. ...

Viewdata is still in use today in the United Kingdom, mainly by the travel industry. Travel agents use it to look up the price and availability of package holidays and flights, once they find what the customer is looking for they can place a booking. Originally Viewdata was accessed with a special purpose terminal (or emulation software) and a modem running at CCITT V.23 speed (1200 bit/s down, 75 bit/s up). Today it is normally accessed over TCP/IP using Viewdata client software on a personal computer running Microsoft Windows. A tourist boat travels the River Seine in Paris, France Tourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. ... A travel agency is a store where individuals or families go to buy travel packages. ... A package holiday or package tour consists of transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. ... Aviation or Air transport refers to the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ... The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) coordinates standards for telecommunications on behalf of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. ... Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of proprietary software operating systems by Microsoft. ...

A number of Viewdata Bulletin Board Systems existed in the 1980s, predominantly in the UK due to the proliferation of the BBC Microcomputer, and a short-lived Viewdata Revival appeared in the late 1990s fuelled by the retro-computing vogue. Some Viewdata boards still exist, with accessibility in the form of Java telnet clients, eg. CCl4, Haven. Ward Christensen and the computer that ran the first public Bulletin Board System, CBBS A Bulletin Board System or BBS is a computer system running software that allows users to dial into the system over a phone line and, using a terminal program, perform functions such as downloading software and... Top view of the BBC Micro The BBC Micro, affectionately known as the Beeb, was an early home computer. ...

The travel industry is trying to move away from Viewdata to a Web based standard. There are a number of factors holding up a move to the Web. Travel consultants have been trained to use Viewdata, they would need training to book holidays on the Internet and the tour operators can't agree on a Web based standard. Graphic representation of the world wide web around Wikipedia The World Wide Web (WWW, or simply Web) is an information space in which the items of interest, referred to as resources, are identified by global identifiers called Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI). ... A tour operator typically combines components to create a holiday. ...

Note: The access, request, and reception are usually via common carrier broadcast channels. Contrast with teletext. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

Sample Screenshot

Viewdata Graphics used in the experimental phone directory of the General Post Office in 1977

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1066, 167 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Viewdata Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1066, 167 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Viewdata Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create...

See also

• Prestel

This text was originally based on Federal Standard 1037C. [1] Prestel, the brand name for the British General Post Offices Viewdata technology, was an interactive videotex system developed during the late 1970s and commercially launched in 1979. ... Federal Standard 1037C entitled Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms is a U.S. Federal Standard, issued by the General Services Administration pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended. ...

External links

• Justrewards, a supplier of Viewdata products & services.