BBC to switch off red button text

They can have it - and did - But it was down to individual affiliates and cable providers.

Not every TV was required to have it built in as standard, which didn't help matters.

And then no-one found a way to monetise it, so they dropped it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra_(teletext)

Yes, and the test card is of very little use these days in the broadcast chain, and not much use for the TV trade/public.

Back in the analogue era, it was very useful as a static image to adjust aerials to minimise ghosting effects (which as many riggers from that era will tell you, the introduction of daytime telly was a nuisance) It was also very useful for the TV repair trade, to set up the geometry (that's why all [1] test cards had a circle in them) and other scanning parameters for CRT tellies.

Today with digital and flat screens, nothing much other than brightness and contrast you can use it for.
The most useful thing about the snatch of TCW on BBC 2 overnight, is the 5.1 audio ID

[1] The IBA's ETP-1 had no circle. Cheapskates.

The frequency gratings are useful for setting sharpness to minimise any HF-detail masking. (Some TVs need sharpness at 0, others at 50%)

I'd quite like a zone plate...

I sat in a bar once with a visiting American colleague, he was transfixed by Noel's House Party, but it wasn't the anything on the show itself, he just said, 'Amazing, I've been watching for almost 20 minutes, and not seen a commercial break yet'.

I hope you told why, that it was all paid for by product placement for UK gunge manufactures.

Clearly wasn't this episode then, which I came across recently! (from about 22:50)



It's quite arresting how unnatural it feels for Noel to throw to a break, but it's done completely as if real (and with a C4-style break bumper too).

Ha ! Those who paid attention to the recent C4 Regional Opt thread, will realise that whoever produced that break bumper, must have lived in the TVS region

There’s a good piece on how the BBC used to create subtitles, which also explains about the editing, here

This is the current BBC style and creation of subtitle guide
https://bbc.github.io/subtitle-guidelines/

And show how much things have changed as we have 100% subtitling

Very little of what's in those guidelines actually makes its way to subtitlers in their training, particularly for recent recruits. And much of what's there is either ignored or has been actively countermanded in the pursuit of increased productivity.

I grant you that this may not be surprising given the demographic of their readers, but this week’s Radio Times letters section contains no less than seven letters protesting the closure of the red button service.

Will the linear BBC Red Button channel still operate?