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Brief.md · the rules, for pasting into an AI site tool

Teletext

Blocky broadcast characters, coarse colour grid, fixed rows, saturated primaries

Build with it

A starting grammar for a website in Teletext: one 40 x 24 cell grid, seven saturated colours on black, 2 x 3 mosaic graphics, double height as the only rank, and navigation by page number and four coloured keys.

Web translation marks our choices for the screen. Not specified by the source marks what the sources leave open. Everything else is a rule from the record below.

The same system is in the brief (Build → Brief) and in the structured data.

Colour

  • BLACK
  • WHITE
  • YELLOW
  • CYAN
  • GREEN
  • MAGENTA
  • RED
  • BLUE

Seven on black. Blue is a bar, never text.

The rules behind it
  • Documented · Source attachedUse seven colours on black and no intermediates. From a documented finding (colour)
  • Our readingNo intermediate colours, no gradients. From our reading
  • Web translationNever set blue as text on black; use it for bars under yellow lettering. Blue on black is 2.4:1; the palette is fixed, so the fix is where blue is used. From a documented finding (colour)

Type

DOUBLE HEIGHT

ONE GLYPH TO A CELL, 40 TO A ROW.

NO WEIGHT, NO ITALIC: COLOUR RANKS.

The rules behind it
  • Graded by our research brief · No source attachedSet fixed-width cell glyphs; the only size change is double height. From our research brief (typography)
  • Our readingNo proportional type. From our reading
  • Web translationUse VT323 for the cell face. The record names the class (bitmap, fixed-width cells), not a face; VT323 is the room's. From our research brief (typography)
  • Graded by our research brief · No source attachedThe format has no weight axis: do not bold; rank with colour, double height or row position. From our research brief (hierarchy)

Grid

40 x 24 = 960 cells. Row 0 the header, row 24 the Fastext prompts.

The rules behind it
  • Documented · Source attachedCompose on a 40 x 24 character grid. From a documented finding (layout)
  • DocumentedA page is 40 columns by 24 rows, 960 characters. From a documented finding (form)
  • Our readingNo element smaller than a cell or placed off-grid. From our reading
  • Our readingRun near the 960-cell budget: a sparse teletext page reads as a broken one. From our reading (density)
  • Web translationScale the grid to the viewport: one cell is the page width divided by 40. The cell is fixed in number, not in pixels; a screen that is not a television keeps the count. From a documented finding (layout)

Mosaic

CONTIGUOUS

SEPARATED

Each colour change costs a black cell: the code border.

The rules behind it
  • Documented · Source attachedDraw graphics only from 2 x 3 mosaic blocks inside the cells. From a documented finding (imagery)
  • DocumentedSeparated graphics, with gaps between mosaic cells, are a standard option beside contiguous blocks. From a documented finding (motif)
  • Seen in the workLet the black cell a colour change costs stand as an outline: the code border. From the work itself (motif)
  • Our readingNo anti-aliasing. From our reading

Imagery

PICTURES ARE MOSAICS: 2 X 3 SIXELS TO A CELL. NO PHOTOGRAPH, NO TONE.

The rules behind it
  • Documented · Source attachedBuild every picture from 2 x 3 mosaic blocks. From a documented finding (imagery)
  • DocumentedExpect the 3 x 2 matrix to limit any motif. From a documented finding (motif)
  • DocumentedOn newsflash and subtitle pages, inset boxed areas into the live picture instead of a black page. From a documented finding (interface)
  • Our readingNo photographs or continuous tone: a photograph is outside the format, not a lower-fidelity version of it. From our reading

Components

The record documents interface conventions for Teletext. These four components are contemporary builds on those conventions, not historical artefacts.

WEATHERRAIN SPREADING EAST BY EVENING.
The rules behind it
  • DocumentedOffer four linked pages on red, green, yellow and cyan keys, with matching prompts on the bottom row. From a documented finding (interface)
  • Web translationLetter the keys in black on the key colour. Seven colours on black and no intermediates; black lettering on a solid colour is the format's own reverse. From a documented finding (colour)
  • Seen in the workHead the page or section with a mosaic banner above the text. From the work itself (motif)
  • Graded by our research brief · No source attachedRank by double height, colour and row position, and nothing else. From our research brief (hierarchy)
  • Web translationMake the card one page of the 40 x 24 grid, spilling to a subpage rather than scrolling. The page is a fixed 960-cell grid and cannot scroll; overflow in the format goes to subpages. From a documented finding (form), our reading
  • Web translationTreat text entry as keying a page number. Level 1 pages without Fastext rely on typed page numbers; that is the format's only entry. From a documented finding (interface)
  • Not specified by the sourceFree-text forms are not part of the format. Keep any other field to whole cells in the seven colours; do not invent a teletext form.
  • DocumentedPut the four linked pages on row 24, in red, green, yellow and cyan. From a documented finding (interface)
  • DocumentedKeep a header on the top row with a real-time clock and a rolling page counter. From a documented finding (interface)
  • DocumentedHide concealed text as spaces until the viewer reveals it. From a documented finding (interface)

Motion

FLIP 1/3 > 2/3 > 3/3

FLASH THEN STEADY

Nothing scrolls. Nothing eases.

The rules behind it
  • Our readingMove by page-flip on a timer, the reveal of concealed text and the rolling subpage counter; never by scrolling. From our reading (motion)
  • DocumentedFlash text or mosaics by alternating foreground and background, cancelled by Steady or a new row. From a documented finding (motion)
  • DocumentedRotate multi-frame pages on a subpage carousel. From a documented finding (motion)
  • DocumentedKeep the header rolling through page numbers with a live clock. From a documented finding (motion)
  • Web translationStart the carousel only when the reader asks, stop it when asked, and stop flashing after four beats. Carousel and flash are the format's; the reader controlling them is the web's rule for moving content (WCAG 2.2.2). From a documented finding (motion)

The record

Research
Partly sourced
Build guidance
Recorded in 8 of 8 research dimensions
Rules
23 with their basis
Origin
From a technique
Also called
Ceefax, broadcast text, blocky
Feel
nostalgic, technical

What it argues

Information delivered under a hard bandwidth budget. The constraint is not concealed or apologised for — the grid, the eight colours and the blocky glyphs are the budget made visible, and legibility at broadcast distance outranks everything else.

It refuses continuous tone, intermediate colour, free placement, and any element smaller than one character cell.

Costs it accepts: Image fidelity, Typographic range, Free composition.

Who it is for: A viewer at domestic television distance, reading a page that will be replaced on a timer.

How you recognise it

A fixed grid of 40 columns by 24 rows in which every element occupies whole character cells, drawn from a palette of seven saturated colours on black, with graphics built from 2×3 mosaic blocks inside those same cells and headings set by doubling character height.

Diagnostic The diagnostic condition is that the grid is a transmission constraint rather than a design decision: nothing can sit between cells, no colour can fall between the seven, and no shape can be finer than a sixth of a cell.

Terminal shares the monospace ground but is a console with a prompt and a phosphor-derived palette; Arcade shares the low-resolution look but draws sprites in hard-edged pixels against a coin-op frame.

What carries the look

0 Elements linked. No Element is linked to this Aesthetic yet. Each row still opens its gallery.

Typographycarries the look

Page set in VT323, one cell face for the screens and the record.

Colorcarries the look
  • #000000
  • #FF0000
  • #00FF00
  • #FFFF00
  • #0000FF
  • #FF00FF
  • #00FFFF
  • #FFFFFF

as built

Compositioncarries the lookNothing linked yet
ImageryNothing linked yet
SurfacesNothing linked yet
Motion

The screens change only when asked: a page flip on a timer the reader starts and stops, and concealed text behind Reveal. Nothing scrolls. One word flashes, on page 104, and settles after four beats.

Motifs & SymbolsNothing linked yet
TechniquesNothing linked yet

Rules 23

By area, each labelled with what kind of claim it is.

  1. Layout

    Documented · Source attached

    Composition: 40×24 character grid.

  2. Layout, again

    Documented · Source attached

    A 40x24 character grid with block graphics drawn on a 2x3 mosaic matrix inside each cell, in eight colours. These are the broadcast specification, not stylistic choices.

  3. Typography

    Graded by our research brief · No source attached

    Typography: fixed-width cell glyphs; double-height only.

  4. Color

    Documented · Source attached

    Colour: 7 colours on black, no intermediates.

  5. Imagery

    Documented · Source attached

    Imagery: 2×3 mosaic blocks only.

  6. Interface

    Documented · Source attached

    Navigation is by single key press on the remote: under the FLOF (Fastext) code of practice four keys coloured red, green, yellow and cyan select linked pages, with matching prompts displayed on row 24 at the bottom of the page.

  7. Interface, again

    Documented · Source attached

    The top row is a page header that normally carries a real-time clock and a rolling page counter.

  8. Interface, again

    Documented · Source attached

    Concealed text is hidden as spaces until the viewer reveals it with a decoder operation.

  9. Interface, again

    Documented · Source attached

    On newsflash and subtitle pages, boxed areas are inset into the live television picture instead of a black page.

  10. Interface, again

    Seen in the work

    Services such as ARD Text and Teefax use rows 0 and 24 for things like the date and fastext links.

  11. Motion

    Our reading

    The native behaviours are page-flip on a timer, the reveal of concealed text, and the rolling subpage counter — not scrolling, which the format cannot do. Scroll-based animation would be the failure mode this rule exists to prevent.

  12. Motion, again

    Documented · Source attached

    Text and mosaics can flash, alternating foreground and background colour, set by a control character and cancelled by Steady or a new row; early Ceefax could flash selected words.

  13. Motion, again

    Documented · Source attached

    Multi-frame pages rotate on a sub-page carousel, and early Ceefax animations used that carousel.

  14. Motion, again

    Documented · Source attached

    The header row rolls through page numbers and keeps a live clock.

  15. Motion, again

    Documented · Source attached

    In-vision teletext, broadcast as a TV programme free of carousel sub-page timing, could feature animated elements.

  16. Motif

    Documented · Source attached

    Separated graphics, adding gaps between mosaic cells, is a standard option alongside the default contiguous blocks.

  17. Motif, again

    Documented · Source attached

    A statement reported by the teletext wiki says the 3 x 2 mosaic matrix limits the design of any motif.

  18. Motif, again

    Seen in the work

    The recurring graphic device is the mosaic page header or section banner above text content.

  19. Motif, again

    Seen in the work

    Black cells where colour changes sit, which cost a character cell each, recur as heavy black outlines ('code borders') around shapes.

  20. Form

    Documented · Source attached

    A teletext page is a grid of 40 columns by 24 rows, 960 characters.

  21. Hierarchy

    Graded by our research brief · No source attached

    Hierarchy is unusually clean and worth stating plainly: rank comes from double height, colour, and row position — and from nothing else. There is no weight axis, no size axis beyond ×2, and no indentation finer than a cell. A designer who understands only this sentence can already compose the page.

  22. Density

    Our reading

    960 cells is a fixed budget, so density is a consequence of content rather than a style choice. A page should run near the budget, because a sparse teletext page reads as a broken one.

  23. Form / motif / surface / technique

    Graded by our research brief · No source attached

    Form / motif / surface / technique: block mosaic; no surface treatment exists.

Ruled out, or left open

  1. Surface

    Not specified by the source

    The sources do not specify this area; a translation may follow.

What stands behind it

Partly sourced. 9 sources attached. 3 claims graded by our research brief, no source attached.

Build guidance: recorded in 8 of 8 research dimensions. It says what usable material is recorded, never how well it is evidenced.

No source attached: Argument, Recognition test.

Not researched yet: Summary, Overall positions by area, Ornament and contrast scales, Moving it to screen, Source notes.

What this record covers: UK/WST broadcast teletext, 1974–2012.

Neither is a free hand: an area research has not reached is not permission to decide on the language’s behalf.

Research dimensionEvidenceCarries guidance
CompositionSpecified · Graded by our research briefyes
TypographySpecified · Graded by our research briefyes
HierarchySpecified · Graded by our research briefyes
ColourSpecified · Graded by our research briefyes
DensitySpecified · Our readingyes
ImagerySpecified · Graded by our research briefyes
Form / motif / surface / techniqueNot specified by the source: form, surface · Specified: motif, techniqueyes
MotionSpecifiedyes

Often confused with

  • Arcade · Aesthetic

    Character cells versus sprites drawn in hard-edged pixels, and no coin-op furniture (score, lives).

  • Terminal · Aesthetic

    Broadcast page versus interactive console.

Use it

Put it on the Mix benchSee where its rules collide with another Aesthetic’s. Download the briefEvery rule with its kind of claim, and a checklist for grading the result. Paste it into your AI site tool. Structured dataThe record as JSON, as an agent receives it.

For machines data/v1/teletext.json prompt/teletext.md

Suggest a correction to Teletext Request deeper research

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