 S-VHS
recorders record teletext data along with the picture. Practice has shown
that it is possible (albeit sometimes with difficulty) to decode it.
Therefore old recordings could be invisibly storing vintage pages, for
example, from Ceefax or ORACLE.
Pages of particular interest to our 'quest' are 1998 /
early 1999 4-Tel pages, which are the versions prior to the current look
as introduced in March 1999. At this time 4-Tel used the programmes' logo
in the back-up page banner, rather than the capital letters used today.
For instance, "The Big Breakfast", "Time Team", etc. Also of interest are
any recordings from 1992 or earlier from ITV and C4 to capture pages from
ORACLE.
If anyone has such S-VHS recordings in
their archives and would be willing to loan us tape(s) we would be most grateful
(postage costs refunded to sender, of course). The results of our decoding
efforts will appear here on Teletext Then and Now. In this way, a little more of
the 'lost' pages can be preserved for posterity.
It doesn't matter what the programme
is on the tape in this instance, it's the teletext signal that counts! Even a
few minutes (or even seconds) should yield something good.
If you can contribute to this project please
contact Bryan Green or
Mike Brown
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Teletext Then and Now 
