Teletext Recovery Work
In 2022 I began my journey with recovering the wonders of teletext from home-recorded VHS tapes.
This page isn't here to serve as a "what is teletext" or "how to recover teletext" (the latter will come later), but is here to serve as a public view of my progress of recoveries; and importantly as a way that people can download my recoveries if they so wish.
Table Structure
- Capture Name - An internal name used by myself, of the VBI capture. (NB. I won't be providing these files publicly, why? Because some of them are 20GB+ in size which is a lot to host, fear not I have the originals - if you need them please contact me via the Contact link in the heading.
- D# - Directory number, internal use.
- Date - confirmed date of the capture. (dd/mm/yyyy)
- Time - confirmed time range of the capture.
- Service - name of the service captured (e.g. CEEFAX, TELETEXT). Plus for TELETEXT the region of the capture.
- Channel - the name of the channel the capture comes from (e.g. BBC1, Channel 4).
- Programme Schedule - the identified programmes that were being broadcast during this capture. [p] means partial recording.
- J? - did the capture cover any junctions, the parts between shows (e.g. "Coming up next on BBC1...").
- A? - did the capture cover any advertisments.
- Tape ID - any identifying markers on the cassette shell/packaging, internal use only.
- Notes - any other interesting notes about this capture, such as picture quality, interruptions etc.
- VCR - the model number of the VCR used for the capture.
- Deconvolved - the process of cleaning up and preparing the original captured data stream.
- Squashed - a process unique to vhs-teletext wherein duplicate subpages and errors are removed and reduced.
- Final - a final copy of teletext data that I have manually cleaned up and is (in my opinion) as best as it can be.
Further Notes
- All files provided here are of the .T42 file type, which is generally agreed to be the teletext file format. Most teletext adjacent programs will work with these files.
- All "automated" processing of these files is completed via ali1234's vhs-teletext tool.
- The reason for providing different versions of the same file, is that there may be hidden (or yet undiscovered) data in earlier revisions.
- It is natural that the files usually get smaller with each revision.
- Capture times are approximated. Total captured pages is calculated in Meddler SE.
- Any capture should only contain pages for the service and date specified.
- As of Capture #0011 the real-time capture for each entry should be no longer than 15 minutes. Issues occur with the deconvolve process if the captures are too large.
Guides
As teletext recovery can be considered a bit of a dark art still, I have created a series of guides that explain various procedures you might go through when performing teletext recovery operations.
- Teletext Recovery Environment Setup Guide - a guide that explains how to prepare an environment for the capture and initial processing of teletext data.
- Teletext Capture and Recovery Guide - a guide that explains how to capture and process teletext data
- Guide to Speeding Up Teletext Data Procesing with NVIDIA CUDA - a guide that explains how to greatly improve the speed at which you can process raw teletext data (sometimes referred to as the VBI data).
Tools
If you're new to all this and unsure what to do with these T42 files, or if you want to play with teletext then see these links to various useful tools:
- Teletext Meddler SE My primary tool used for viewing my T42's, editing them, adjusting stuff etc. Download Page
- Teletext Recovery Editor Another tool for viewing and editing, but has a limit and won't work with large captures. Download Page
- Teletext Player A great tool for viewing teletext files in the most "natural" way on a computer. Download Page
Recoveries
These are all my recoveries, some of them are extremely poor and some are nearly perfect. Download the .t42 files from the right-hand side of the table. If you want the nicest, cleanest captures you'll want the Final column, if you want the original capture you'll want the Deconvolved column and if you want a stream that has the duplicates removed you'll want Squahsed.
If the Deconvolved column states !JUNK! then I have looked at the data and can't see anything of value. This is usually due to the tape being in such poor condition a recovery has failed. Data is still available if you want to try and repair the data given.
Some files have the extension of .tidy at the end. Fear not, they're T42 files as you'd hope, just trimmed down to remove some excess off the end.
Capture Name | D# | Date | Time approx. |
Service | Channel | Programme Schedule Genome URL |
J? | A? | Tape ID | Notes | VCR | Deconvolved | Squashed | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
memorex.vbi | 0002 | 30/08/2003 | TBC | TELETEXT East Anglia |
C4 | Angela's Ashes | Y | Y | "Angelas Ashes" Memorex E180 |
Possible 1st Gen Good overall quality No Ghosting Steady picture |
Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Download 3957 pgs |
jvc.vbi | 0003 | 27/07/1997 28/07/1997 |
23:45-02:00 | CEEFAX | BBC1 | Havana (1990) Genome |
N | N/A | Unlabelled JVC XR 1-YSL60 |
Pos. 2nd/3rd Gen Good overall quality No Ghosting Steady picture |
Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Download 1167 pgs |
jvc-2.vbi | 0003 | 15/07/1997 | TBC | TELETEXT East Anglia |
C4 | Brookside [p] | Y | Y | Unlabelled JVC XR 1-YSL60 |
Pos. 2nd/3rd Gen Good Overall quality No Ghosting Steady picture Short capture |
Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Download 178 pgs |
jvc-3.vbi | 0003 | 08/07/1997 | 19:20-20:00 | CEEFAX | BBC1 | EastEnders [p] Genome |
N | N/A | Unlabelled JVC XR 1-YSL60 |
Pos. 2nd/3rd Gen Good overall quality No Ghosting Steady picture |
Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Download 1137 pgs |
menthis0.vbi | 0004 | 26/09/1993 | 20:00-TBD | TELETEXT | ITVAnglia | Memphis Belle (1990) | Y | Y | "KEEP - MENTHIS BELL" Generic E-180 |
Pos. 2nd/3rd Gen OK overall quality Minor Ghosting Steady picture |
Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
menthis1.vbi | 0004 | 22/09/1993 | 22:00-22:15 | TELETEXT | ITVAnglia | ITN News | Y | Y | "KEEP - MENTHIS BELL" Generic E-180 |
Pos. 2nd/3rd Gen OK overall quality Minor Ghosting Steady picture |
Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
rescue.vbi | 0005 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | The Rescuers Down Under | N | N | "JUNGLE BOOKTHE RESCUERS DOWNUNDER" BBC E-180 SFF06ANE |
Pos. 2nd/3rd Gen Poor overall quality Ripple in picture J'Book was from Disney but was unrecoverable. |
Samsung SV-651B | Pending | N/A | N/A |
new2004-HMARK.vbi | 0006 | TBD | TBD | TBD | HallmarkSky | AdvertsJunctions | Y | Y | "NEW TAPE 6/2/04" FUJI E-180 0193G2EA(?) |
Pos. 2nd/3rd Gen OK overall quality Slight ripple in picture. |
Samsung SV-651B | Pending | N/A | N/A |
new2004-SKY.vbi | 0006 | TBD | TBD | TBD | Sky OneSky | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Y | Y | "NEW TAPE 6/2/04" FUJI E-180 0193G2EA(?) |
Pos. 2nd/3rd Gen OK overall quality Slight ripple in picture.Start of capture is interrupted |
Samsung SV-651B | N/A | N/A | N/A |
new2004-BBC.vbi | 0006 | TBD | TBD | TBD | BBC1 | EastEnders | Y | Y | "NEW TAPE 6/2/04" FUJI E-180 0193G2EA(?) |
Pos. 2nd/3rd Gen OK overall quality Slight ripple in picture. |
Samsung SV-651B | Pending | N/A | N/A |
jfrost.vbi | 0007 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | Jack Frost (1998) | Y | Y | "JACK FROST" MAXELL 3 HOUR |
Poor overall quality Lots of picture drop-outs, rolling image. |
Samsung SV-651B | Download !JUNK! |
N/A | N/A |
jfrost2.vbi | 0007 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | Unknown animation | Y | Y | "JACK FROST" MAXELL 3 HOUR |
OK overall quality Steady image. |
Samsung SV-651B | Download !JUNK! |
N/A | N/A |
jfrost3.vbi | 0007 | TBD | TBD | TBD | Channel 5 | X Games | Y | Y | "JACK FROST" MAXELL 3 HOUR |
Poor overall quality Lots of picture drop-outs, rolling image. |
Samsung SV-651B | Download !JUNK! |
N/A | N/A |
ddozen0.vbi | 0008 | 23/12/1983 | 22:05-22:50 | CEEFAX | BBC1 | The Dirty Dozen (1967) Genome |
Y | N/A | "THE DIRTY DOZEN" MEMOREX E-180 ASF203 |
Good quality Possibly 1st/2nd generation. |
Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Download 252 pgs |
bconnolly01.vbi | 0010 | 28/10/1996 | 22:10-22:50 | CEEFAX | BBC1 | Billy Collony's World Tour of Australia Genome |
Y | N/A | "Australia Tour Billy Connelly" FINLANDIA E180 ??22ENA |
OK quality Possibly 3rd generation Some frequent drop-outs. |
Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
bconnolly02.vbi | 0010 | 25/11/1996 | 22:10-22:50 | CEEFAX | BBC1 | Billy Collony's World Tour of Australia Genome |
Y | N/A | "Australia Tour Billy Connelly" FINLANDIA E180 ??22ENA |
OK quality Possibly 3rd generation Some frequent drop-outs. Considering this, this capture has many perfect pages. |
Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
drdolittle.vbi | 0011 | 20/08/2000 | 14:41-14:55 | SKY TEXT | SKY PREMIER | Dr Dolitte (1998) | N | N/A | "Dr Dolittle" TDK E-240 TV AGOD 914 |
OK quality Possibly 2nd generation. |
Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
granada001.vbi | 0012 | 15/12/2000 | TBD | TELETEXT | ITV1 | Catherine Cookson's A Dinner of Herbs S01E04 | Y | Y | "Catherine Cookson" Granada TV Rental VHS |
Poor quality A lot of ghosting. |
Samsung SV-651B | Pending | Pending | Pending |
bbc2-19941119.vbi | 0013 | 19/11/1994 | 15:00-15:15 | CEEFAX | BBC2 | Glenn Miller: America's Musical Hero Genome |
N | N/A | TDK E-180 E 180 TV EE |
Great qualitySecond generationRecovery GREAT, many perfect pages | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Download1117 pgs |
anglia-19941215.vbi | 0013 | 15/12/1994 | 22:40-22:55 | TELETEXT | ANGLIA | Marquee | Y | Y | TDK E-180 E 180 TV EE |
Great qualitySecond generationRecovery GREAT, many perfect pages | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Download1345 pgs |
bbc120081026.vbi | 0014 | 26/10/2008 | 19:55-20:00 | CEEFAX | BBC1 | Strictly Come DancingS6E12Genome | N | N | BASF E180 267 8 S 24 082107 9 |
OK qualityMulti-generationRecovery OK, mis-spellings | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
bbc120081026.vbi | 0014 | 13/12/2008 | 19:20-19:40 | CEEFAX | BBC2 | A Life on the Box: Arthur LoweGenome | N | N | BASF E180 267 8 S 24 082107 9 |
OK qualityMulti-generationRecovery OK, mis-spellings | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
itv120071226.vbi | 0014 | 26/12/2007 | ??-?? | TELETEXT | ITV1 | Y | Y | BASF E180 267 8 S 24 082107 9 |
OK qualityMulti-generationRecovery poor | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending | |
CARLTON19931227.vbi | 0016 | 27/12/1993 | ??-?? | TELETEXT | CARLTON | Wish You Were Here | N | N | TBC | OK qualityMulti-generationSome recordings on this tape are good condition, others very bad | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
C419971202.vbi | 0016 | 02/12/1997 | 16:30-16:40 | TELETEXT | C4 | Countdown | N | N | TBC | OK qualityMulti-generationSome recordings on this tape are good condition, others very bad | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | WIP |
BBC120080414.vbi | 0016 | 14/04/2008 | TBC | CEEFAX | BBC1 | Watchdog | N | N | TBC | OK qualityMulti-generationSome recordings on this tape are good condition, others very bad | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
ITV120080415.vbi | 0016 | 15/04/2008 | 21:00-21:15 | TELETEXT | ITV1 | The Duke: A Portrait of Prince Philip | N | N | TBC | OK qualityMulti-generationSome recordings on this tape are good condition, others very bad | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
BBC120080512.vbi | 0016 | 12/05/2008 | TBC | CEEFAX | BBC1 | Watchdog | N | N | TBC | OK qualityMulti-generationSome recordings on this tape are good condition, others very bad | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
ITV120080512.vbi | 0016 | 12/05/2008 | TBC | TELETEXT | ITV1 | Cops with Cameras | N | Y | TBC | OK qualityMulti-generationSome recordings on this tape are good condition, others very bad | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
TBC | 0016 | TBC | TBC | CEEFAX | BBC2 | Natural World | N | N | TBC | OK qualityMulti-generationSome recordings on this tape are good condition, others very bad | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |
BBC219911224.vbi | 0017 | 24/12/1991 | 20:20-20:35 | CEEFAX | BBC2 | Re-Joyce Genome |
Y | N | TBC | TBC | Samsung SV-651B | Download | Download | Pending |