91Èȱ¬

The deaf community mourns your loss Ceefax. 'Farewell to thee, but not farewell to all that you have meant to me...'

I did write about this to the 91Èȱ¬ but have had no reply. Last week during the second test there was no run by run coverage as there was on page 341. Why is this? If it is as good as Ceefax why are they not carrying this page? There would never be an issue of live footy scores being carried.

The beauty of Ceefax was you could quickly take it in while watching a programme. With Red Button it takes you away from the programmes for a very long time, and this seems a backward step.

With smartphones I can access more information quickly without having to switch off the show I'm watching, which makes it look like the Red Button service is almost obsolete before it's barely begun.

Ceefax served the UK well in pre-Internet times but with, I estimate, an average page of only 150 words & page load times in 10s of seconds I have no problems seeing it consigned to history.

One of the useful features that I shall miss is the accurate time on the top line. The digital replacement only gives time to the nearest minute. I really need to set my watch more accurately than this e.g. to catch trains. It would be very nice if the digital replacement showed more accurate time, though I realise the delay in compressing and de-compressing the signal makes this difficult.

The Digital equivalent of CEEFAX is far inferior manily due to the fact that you have to watch telly on the screen along with the text, there is no way of switching the telly screen part off. I find that infuriating!!!! PLEASE BEEB CAN YOU FIX THIS???

Goodbye Ceefax - from an old Ceefax engineer

Ceefax was quick and neat (most of the time). Have had the digital version here in the south west for a couple of years and it is slow and clunky both on Freeview and Freesat - so only use it rarely - I used to use Ceefax every day.

I live in the High Peak and although we went digital a few years ago I can still access Ceefax. All I do is go to 91Èȱ¬ 1 with the remote and then press the text button.

I'll miss Ceefax, it had such a distinct look that just cannot be replicated by the red button version. :(

@2
Unfortunately football & F1 are as poorly served as cricket. At 13:00 hours on Sat 14th went to check FA cup semi final score & F1 qualifying results. Both pages were showing information for Friday afternoon/evening, at least 16 hours out of date.

@11. That'll be their excuse for getting rid of it..

Reading your article I immediately want to scream out NOT TRUE!!! For those of use who use their Tivo service, when we press the red button all we get is iPlayer, hence missing a lot of content.

I am assured that by the time the Olympics come around we will have access to Red Button content, I am not holding my breath given Virgins history of delivering late.

Digital text doesn't seem any different, Where are the fun stuff on the red button?

The hidden testcard under Freeview LCN 105 is one joy.

It is nearly three years since Andrew Bowden kindly published the lists of what is under the Red Button: /blogs/pressred/2009/05/pagenumberlist.shtml

Many pages are inferior (404) or missing (337, 406, tennis rankings etc.)
Plus poor use of limited space and annoying 'back' process.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Re 15.
Tune to the Red Button Ch 105.
When the Red Button Channel background appears, press Yellow.
Tune away to a different channel.
Tune back to Ch 105
When the Red Button Channel background appears this time, press Green (within 30 sec) In the top right hand corner the word "Secret" will appear
Wait until the status page appears, and follow the on screen instuctions.

It's simplicity was one of the beauties of ceefax.
That and its speed.
1992, want to check the latest news headlines whilst still watching the TV?
Click Text, Click News, Click Mix. 2 Seconds.
2012 want to check the latest news headlines whilst still watching the TV?
Press red button.
Wait
Wait
Wait
Loose picture
Wait
Wait
Wait
Get Option Screen
Wait....

It seems strange that the 91Èȱ¬ 'brand' orientated culture decides to drop the CEEFAX brand. It is a policy decision only.
Technically there is no reason why the existing CEEFAX service can not be included within the new digital services.

RIP Cx

@20: I'm not sure quite why you say "wait...". I have red button on Freeview, Freeview HD, Freeview HD via Microsoft Windows 7 Media Centre, and a £60-from-Asda Freesat HD box and everything red-button is quite instantaneous.

Perhaps you need to spend a few quid on a new Freeview box?

I don't know what's stopping anyone from keeping the Ceefax name.

Couldn't the 91Èȱ¬ retain a teletext service using the DVD-TXT & DVB-VBI standards, which allow the broadcast of teletext over digital TV? This used to exist but was withdrawn by the 91Èȱ¬. Wouldn't this be a pragmatic solution to the problems perceived with digital text? It also means the 91Èȱ¬ wouldn't have multiple builds of the digital text service to maintain so would also save licence fee cash.

Meant DVB-TXT not DVD-TXT :)

@20 My PVR is able access Red Button digital text really quickly: it might be worth your while contacting the manufacturer as you may have missed software updates that would improve the tuner's perforamance with Red Button Digital Text. See /reception/digitaltv/interactive.shtml

For those of you missing Ceefax, News and Information from the 91Èȱ¬'s Teletext service is broadcast this weekend and, hopefully, every such break in programming until 91Èȱ¬ One Northern Ireland switches over in six months' time.

Saturday 21 April 0435-0600
Sunday 22 April 0255-0600
Monday 23 April 0420-0600

It is a pity that the great name of Ceefax is not carried over into the digital age. With the digital text you loose the so many things. The index page should be full screen with more information and page numbers. In fact all the x00 pages should be full screen. A national full screen weather map, pop charts, newsflash..there are so many things that we miss. Let's have an enhanced Ceefax.