Antiope (teletext)
Encyclopedia
Antiope was a French
teletext
standard in the 1980s. It also formed the basis for the display standard used in the French videotex
service Minitel
.
The nice-sounding term allegedly stood for Acquisition Numérique et Télévisualisation d’Images Organisées en Pages d’Écriture, which could be loosely translated as Digital Acquisition and Remote Visualization of Images Organized into Written Pages. Work on Antiope started in 1972 at CCETT
, the newly-merged French national research centre for television and telecommunications in Rennes
, with first field trials in 1975. The system was officially launched in 1976 at Vidcom in Cannes, and simultaneously at the СПОРТ 76 exposition in Moscow.
Antiope ceased to be used for broadcast teletext in the early 1990s, before teletext became popular in France. It was replaced by European standard World System Teletext
. However, the Antiope-derived Minitel continues in use to the present day.
teletext system developed by the BBC stemmed from the fact that Antiope was developed by telecommunications engineers, while Ceefax was developed by television engineers. The television engineers created a system which filled the screen with data at a fixed, predictable rate; in contrast Antiope was constructed like a packet-switching system, with variable length packets of data, as might be used on a telephone network.
In both cases, the teletext data was transmitted during the vertical blanking interval
, the portion of time allocated for the electron beam to return from the bottom of the screen back up to the top between each frame of the image (which corresponds to a transmission time of 25 lines in each field of PAL
or SECAM
), and each line used conveyed a fixed number of bytes each cycle: 40 bytes for European systems, 32 in the United States. In the BBC Ceefax system each group of 40 bytes corresponded directly to one row of 40 characters, each byte representing both the character and its place in the row – a videosynchronous system.
In contrast, in the case of Antiope the delivery packet was independent of the screen presentation. One 40-byte packet might contain several rows; another might contain only part of a row, if it contained several colour changes or accented characters (coded with two or three bytes). In return, colour changes, or switches to graphical mode (called "mosaic"), which each had to take up one character space in the row on a Ceefax page, could be made freely in Antiope, allowing the construction of more elaborate pages.
Ceefax pages could be displayed using fairly simple hardware, using a character generator and a simple latch to keep track of the attributes in force at a particular character position as the page is scanned. Antiope was only a little more complicated, the relevant attributes for each character position (about 13 bits, or a few more if further additional fonts were in use) being stored in a separate memory page in the decoder, distinct from the memory page used for the characters.
This flexibility of Antiope provided a foundation on which multilingual and multialphabetic systems were developed, and also systems using dynamically redefinable character sets (DRCS), especially in variants delivered over the telephone (videotex).
(compare the BBC's Pages from Ceefax). TF1
and FR3 both also began to broadcast Antiope content from the early 1980s. Antiope decoding was initially by set-top box
es connected to the television by a SCART
cable. Grundig
France began to sell TVs with integrated decoders from 1983, followed by other manufacturers.
Antenne 2 began using the system to broadcast teletext subtitles for the hard-of-hearing in 1983, with three programmes subtitled by the end of the year. The number rose to 15 programmes across the three channels in 1984, and 30 in 1985.
Attempts had been made to sell the system internationally, including test broadcasts in the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1980, CBS
had lobbied U.S. Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) directly to make Antiope the teletext standard for the United States. However by 1986, all these efforts had failed. Across Europe 9 million sets had been sold equipped to receive teletext based on the UK standard; whereas in France, the only country using Antiope, sales had only reached 100,000. Manufacture of Antiope-equipped TV sets ceased in 1987, and in 1989 broadcasts began in the rival European standard World System Teletext
. For a while the two services were broadcast in parallel, but Antiope broadcasts finally ceased in the early 1990s.
Ironically, although the transport protocols were different, much of the on-screen functionality of Antiope was recreated in the extended so-called Hi-Text Level 2.5 version of the European standard, first broadcast in 1994 by the bilingual French-German channel ARTE
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
teletext
Teletext
Teletext is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules...
standard in the 1980s. It also formed the basis for the display standard used in the French videotex
Videotex
Videotex was one of the earliest implementations of an "end-user information system". From the late 1970s to mid-1980s, it was used to deliver information to a user in computer-like format, typically to be displayed on a television.In a strict definition, videotex refers to systems that provide...
service Minitel
Minitel
The Minitel is a Videotex online service accessible through the telephone lines, and is considered one of the world's most successful pre-World Wide Web online services. It was launched in France in 1982 by the PTT...
.
The nice-sounding term allegedly stood for Acquisition Numérique et Télévisualisation d’Images Organisées en Pages d’Écriture, which could be loosely translated as Digital Acquisition and Remote Visualization of Images Organized into Written Pages. Work on Antiope started in 1972 at CCETT
Centre commun d'études de télévision et télécommunications
CCETT or Centre commun d'études de télévision et télécommunications was a research centre created in Rennes in 1972 jointly by the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française and Centre National...
, the newly-merged French national research centre for television and telecommunications in Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
, with first field trials in 1975. The system was officially launched in 1976 at Vidcom in Cannes, and simultaneously at the СПОРТ 76 exposition in Moscow.
Antiope ceased to be used for broadcast teletext in the early 1990s, before teletext became popular in France. It was replaced by European standard World System Teletext
World System Teletext
World System Teletext is the name of a standard for encoding and displaying teletext information, which is used as the standard for teletext throughout Europe today....
. However, the Antiope-derived Minitel continues in use to the present day.
Technology
A fundamental difference in technical philosophy between Antiope and the CeefaxCeefax
Ceefax is the BBC's teletext information service transmitted via the analogue signal, started in 1974 and will run until April 2012 for Pages from Ceefax, while the actual interactive service will run until 24 October 2012, in-line with the digital switchover.-History:During the late 60s, engineer...
teletext system developed by the BBC stemmed from the fact that Antiope was developed by telecommunications engineers, while Ceefax was developed by television engineers. The television engineers created a system which filled the screen with data at a fixed, predictable rate; in contrast Antiope was constructed like a packet-switching system, with variable length packets of data, as might be used on a telephone network.
In both cases, the teletext data was transmitted during the vertical blanking interval
Vertical blanking interval
The vertical blanking interval , also known as the vertical interval or VBLANK, is the time difference between the last line of one frame or field of a raster display, and the beginning of the first line of the next frame. It is present in analog television, VGA, DVI and other signals. During the...
, the portion of time allocated for the electron beam to return from the bottom of the screen back up to the top between each frame of the image (which corresponds to a transmission time of 25 lines in each field of PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
or SECAM
SECAM
SECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France....
), and each line used conveyed a fixed number of bytes each cycle: 40 bytes for European systems, 32 in the United States. In the BBC Ceefax system each group of 40 bytes corresponded directly to one row of 40 characters, each byte representing both the character and its place in the row – a videosynchronous system.
In contrast, in the case of Antiope the delivery packet was independent of the screen presentation. One 40-byte packet might contain several rows; another might contain only part of a row, if it contained several colour changes or accented characters (coded with two or three bytes). In return, colour changes, or switches to graphical mode (called "mosaic"), which each had to take up one character space in the row on a Ceefax page, could be made freely in Antiope, allowing the construction of more elaborate pages.
Ceefax pages could be displayed using fairly simple hardware, using a character generator and a simple latch to keep track of the attributes in force at a particular character position as the page is scanned. Antiope was only a little more complicated, the relevant attributes for each character position (about 13 bits, or a few more if further additional fonts were in use) being stored in a separate memory page in the decoder, distinct from the memory page used for the characters.
This flexibility of Antiope provided a foundation on which multilingual and multialphabetic systems were developed, and also systems using dynamically redefinable character sets (DRCS), especially in variants delivered over the telephone (videotex).
Use
Commercial broadcasting of Antiope began on Antenne 2 in 1979. To publicise the service, pages were even transmitted en clair instead of the test cardTest card
A test card, also known as a test pattern in North America and Australia, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast...
(compare the BBC's Pages from Ceefax). TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
and FR3 both also began to broadcast Antiope content from the early 1980s. Antiope decoding was initially by set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
es connected to the television by a SCART
SCART
SCART is a French-originated standard and associated 21-pin connector for connecting audio-visual equipment together...
cable. Grundig
Grundig
Grundig AG is a German manufacturer of consumer electronics for home entertainment which transferred to Turkish control in 2004-2007. Established in 1945 in Nuremberg by Max Grundig, the company changed hands several times before becoming part of the Turkish Koç Holding group...
France began to sell TVs with integrated decoders from 1983, followed by other manufacturers.
Antenne 2 began using the system to broadcast teletext subtitles for the hard-of-hearing in 1983, with three programmes subtitled by the end of the year. The number rose to 15 programmes across the three channels in 1984, and 30 in 1985.
Attempts had been made to sell the system internationally, including test broadcasts in the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1980, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
had lobbied U.S. Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) directly to make Antiope the teletext standard for the United States. However by 1986, all these efforts had failed. Across Europe 9 million sets had been sold equipped to receive teletext based on the UK standard; whereas in France, the only country using Antiope, sales had only reached 100,000. Manufacture of Antiope-equipped TV sets ceased in 1987, and in 1989 broadcasts began in the rival European standard World System Teletext
World System Teletext
World System Teletext is the name of a standard for encoding and displaying teletext information, which is used as the standard for teletext throughout Europe today....
. For a while the two services were broadcast in parallel, but Antiope broadcasts finally ceased in the early 1990s.
Ironically, although the transport protocols were different, much of the on-screen functionality of Antiope was recreated in the extended so-called Hi-Text Level 2.5 version of the European standard, first broadcast in 1994 by the bilingual French-German channel ARTE
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
.
External links
- A history of teletext in France, France 2France 2France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
, 2006 - Screen examples
- Pictures from KCET's trial of Antiope in Los Angeles in 1980