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The Great Ceefax v The Rubbish Red Button
realpiggg
29-10-2012
Is there no way you can get the old Ceefax service now,not even on the internet? I have just spent the entire morning pressing my red button on both BBC 1 and 2 and all im getting is a please wait message at the bottom of my screen and sod all else happens,this has prompted me to make this posting.Now before you tell me to get a new digibox etc,i can assure you it is brand new and i have had it all checked out.
This red button service is absolutely appauling in comparison to the old ceefax on analogue,during daytime it often doesnt even appear on the screen and you have to switch over to BBC2 to try and actually get some news/sport updates,its an absolute disgrace.When you are actually able to get the News section up,it is a pale shadow of the much more in depth analysis Ceefax offered,its an utter joke.As for the Sports Section on the red button,it is even more shambolic,there are Sports stories which have been up since June this year.Im totally sick of it,so much for modern technology eh? Whats others verdicts? Am i right or am i right?

GIVE US BACK OUR OLD CEEFAX DIGITAL YOUR NOT WANTED!!
packages
29-10-2012
It's more likely there's something wrong with your TV/box. There's nothing wrong with the red button.
Sue_Aitch
29-10-2012
Originally Posted by realpiggg:
“all im getting is a please wait message at the bottom of my screen”

Try this and your manufacturer's helpline /webpages t make sure you haven't missed a software upgrade to make watching Red Button better.

You're not up to date with the changes to Red Button recently: there are lots more Politics pages and the Sport Team do respond to webforms. As for In Depth, that's on Red Button Digital Text page 125.

Peace
David Waine
29-10-2012
Now that analogue has switched off everywhere, Ceefax has finally closed down altogether. Make the most of red button.
misar
29-10-2012
Originally Posted by realpiggg:
“Is there no way you can get the old Ceefax service now,not even on the internet? I have just spent the entire morning pressing my red button on both BBC 1 and 2 and all im getting is a please wait message at the bottom of my screen...

GIVE US BACK OUR OLD CEEFAX DIGITAL YOUR NOT WANTED!!”

Are you using the red button on the HD channels? On many receivers including mine it seems to work much better on the SD channels. Also response seems faster on Freeview than Freesat.

Re your other points:
- as already said you cannot have CEEFAX back because it was strictly analogue technology
- you could make an exact digital rendition of the old analogue pages but why would you when digital gives far more scope with graphics, menus, etc
- the amount of content on the red button service is limited only by the bandwidth allocated to text not by being digital
- but I remember reading a long time ago that they decided to keep it small and trade off less content for faster access to pages in order to make the best use of what they had
markmag
29-10-2012
Actually it's perfectly possible to carry teletext on digital television services. A great many operators around the world have opted for this either instead of or as well as digital text services. For instance Sky Germany still broadcasts many channels carrying teletext services which can either be interpreted and displayed by the sky box or by the teletext function on the TV.
Sue_Aitch
30-10-2012
At the time of writing, there is a game on Cbeebies Red Button Digital Text page 5900 with accomanying words which state different boxes have different speeds.
technologist
30-10-2012
Well you can comment on the BBC Red button - as the BBC Trust are consulting see http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/p...on_review.html
I suggest you also reread my and Sue_Aitch post on the BBC POV board http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofv...thread=8390642 which have links to other Red button matters.

But as all Three platforms offered different text services some 15 years ago - the UK made the right decision - .... by going to an international open standard for the most used Platform - which had Video and now has connected TV (MHEG-IC) functionality ... we have over 3M TV sets with that functionalaity.
Sue_Aitch
31-10-2012
There's more on Red Button reception here.
Fran Blakes
31-10-2012
The old text service still being used!

http://www.postimg.com/image/90000/t...vice-89256.jpg
Sue_Aitch
31-10-2012
That's Aertel for you!
gomezz
31-10-2012
Originally Posted by realpiggg:
“Is there no way you can get the old Ceefax service now,not even on the internet?”

There seems to be so much love and enthusiasm (which I don't understand) for this quaint, antiquated system that I am surprised that no-one has set up a Ceefax web site scraping the data from more modern sources where it can and simulating the rest such as the puzzle and games pages.
Fran Blakes
31-10-2012
Ceefax used to updated online here:
http://www.ceefax.tv/

But it's now out of date
Sue_Aitch
01-11-2012
So watch Red Button Digital Text, which is updated: surely It's the present content you're particulaly after? That site has not been updated in years.

And before anyone says "It's not the same as looking at Ceefax," have you not noticed other changes in technology in the pasr thirty-eight years, such as a fourth channel starting in 1982.
Mark C
01-11-2012
Originally Posted by Sue_Aitch:
“So watch Red Button Digital Text, which is updated:”


Yes and no.

I was in a hotel in Bristol recently. They had the airport arrivals page displayed from the BBC Red Button page on a Freeview TV in reception. The page remained stuck on information that probably dated back to the day the page was originally selected, and remained like that for the duration of my stay.

The following week I stayed in a hotel in Amsterdam, same TV in reception, this time on NOS Text (old style teletext) airport arrivals, updated every 30 seconds or so.
Sue_Aitch
09-01-2013
Originally Posted by technologist:
“Well you can comment on the BBC Red button - as the BBC Trust are consulting see http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/p...on_review.html
I suggest you also reread my and Sue_Aitch post on the BBC POV board http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofv...thread=8390642 which have links to other Red button matters.

But as all Three platforms offered different text services some 15 years ago - the UK made the right decision - .... by going to an international open standard for the most used Platform - which had Video and now has connected TV (MHEG-IC) functionality ... we have over 3M TV sets with that functionalaity.”

A reminder there's a fortnight till the consultation on Red Button closes.
ovbg
10-01-2013
realpiggg, you're using Ceefax right now, or the new modern version... the internet.

It's a far better way to catch up on news and information on any topic over ceefax. If you want to use it whilst on the sofa, grab an iPad or other tablet of choice.
snukr
11-01-2013
Originally Posted by realpiggg:
“Is there no way you can get the old Ceefax service now,not even on the internet? I have just spent the entire morning pressing my red button on both BBC 1 and 2 and all im getting is a please wait message at the bottom of my screen and sod all else happens,this has prompted me to make this posting.Now before you tell me to get a new digibox etc,i can assure you it is brand new and i have had it all checked out.
This red button service is absolutely appauling in comparison to the old ceefax on analogue,during daytime it often doesnt even appear on the screen and you have to switch over to BBC2 to try and actually get some news/sport updates,its an absolute disgrace.When you are actually able to get the News section up,it is a pale shadow of the much more in depth analysis Ceefax offered,its an utter joke.As for the Sports Section on the red button,it is even more shambolic,there are Sports stories which have been up since June this year.Im totally sick of it,so much for modern technology eh? Whats others verdicts? Am i right or am i right?

GIVE US BACK OUR OLD CEEFAX DIGITAL YOUR NOT WANTED!!”

The red button is much superior to Ceefax, at least on Freeview, it's very quick, and you can go straight to the page you want without waiting five minutes for it to circle like on Ceefax. I'm not so impressed with it on Freesat though where it's a lot slower.
Sue_Aitch
22-01-2013
A reminder there's a day till the consultation on Red Button closes.
Sue_Aitch
28-01-2013
News re Text Services on RBDT page 998 as of today.
royllsroyce
28-01-2013
ceefax analogue was faster, easier to read and more content rich
AngusMast
29-01-2013
If Entertainment Extra is removed that makes p500 a one-option menu
finbaar
29-01-2013
I love the idea of viewing Teletex pages over the internet. It's like using phoning someone and beeping morse code to them or using video confrencing and hoisting those flags used for communicating a ships intentions (the blue peter meant someone had shit in your garden or something).

Still I enjoyed watching live cricket on ceefax. And why does no one miss Oracle - the ultimate newspaper?
JAS84
30-01-2013
Originally Posted by AngusMast:
“If Entertainment Extra is removed that makes p500 a one-option menu”

The current content of 501 will probably move to 500.
Sue_Aitch
30-01-2013
Newsround Page 571 is going for a wee while but will be back, according to page 998's latest revamp (now 9 pages in length instead of the 8 pages it was yesterday)
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