1973
ORACLE demonstrates the world's first broadcast teletext
The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) demonstrates ORACLE, a new system for broadcasting pages of computer-generated text through the ordinary television network.
On 9 April 1973, IBA engineers transmitted a 50-page experimental ORACLE service from the Crystal Palace transmitter in London to an invited audience. It was the first public demonstration anywhere in the world of a system for broadcasting computer-generated text using a television signal.
ORACLE — short for Optional Reception of Announcements by Coded Line Electronics — had been developed by engineers working for the IBA. The system encoded pages of text and simple graphics into otherwise unused lines in the television signal's vertical blanking interval. A suitable decoder could recover the information and display it on a television screen.
The demonstration marked an important milestone in the development of teletext, allowing digital information to be distributed to large numbers of homes using the existing television broadcasting network.
The BBC was developing its own Ceefax system at around the same time. ORACLE's demonstration preceded the BBC's regular Ceefax service, which began on 23 September 1974. ORACLE itself continued development and began an experimental broadcast service in June 1975 before becoming ITV's major teletext service.
Teletext would eventually become a familiar part of British television and would also find its way into home computing. ZX Spectrum owners could later use dedicated teletext adaptors to receive services such as ORACLE and Ceefax, with some systems also supporting telesoftware.
On 9 April 1973, IBA engineers transmitted a 50-page experimental ORACLE service from the Crystal Palace transmitter in London to an invited audience. It was the first public demonstration anywhere in the world of a system for broadcasting computer-generated text using a television signal.
ORACLE — short for Optional Reception of Announcements by Coded Line Electronics — had been developed by engineers working for the IBA. The system encoded pages of text and simple graphics into otherwise unused lines in the television signal's vertical blanking interval. A suitable decoder could recover the information and display it on a television screen.
The demonstration marked an important milestone in the development of teletext, allowing digital information to be distributed to large numbers of homes using the existing television broadcasting network.
The BBC was developing its own Ceefax system at around the same time. ORACLE's demonstration preceded the BBC's regular Ceefax service, which began on 23 September 1974. ORACLE itself continued development and began an experimental broadcast service in June 1975 before becoming ITV's major teletext service.
Teletext would eventually become a familiar part of British television and would also find its way into home computing. ZX Spectrum owners could later use dedicated teletext adaptors to receive services such as ORACLE and Ceefax, with some systems also supporting telesoftware.
