Ceefax

Ceefax (phonetic for "See Facts") is the BBC's teletext information service.

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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.

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

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In 1983, Ceefax started to broadcast programs 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.)

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Aside from small changes such as the introduction of colour (1976) and the "Fasttext" shortcut buttons (early 1990s), the technology has remained the same since its introduction and now appears extremely dated. 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.

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