Re: TV Charater Overlay - food for thought II

[Wayne <wayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A.Agiannidis wrote:

>Hi everyone,
>
>
/me waves :)

>I have been following the discussion on this topic and given the
requirements for a relatively cheap yet flexible solution please allow me
to put forward an idea that I think would be worth considering.
>
>
no worries :) more food for thought

>Given the "perfect" OSD system that will match any given
source (be it RGB, composite or S-video), we will still be limited to one
TV-based information station. So here it comes:
>
>How about looking into the potential of using existing PC-based
Teletext generator systems that will get an RF or composite feed and inject
onto it any information in the form of teletext information? In this way,
all TV sets in a house will be capable of displaying any data generated.
>
>
What I was trying to get to with the initial thought was to have some
sort of 'magic box' that could 'steal' your tv channel you are watching
- overlay the text on top of it and put it back to the tv.

My understanding of Teletext (its more than likely floored!) is that you
would have to have your tv 'on' text mode (albeit in mixed mode) to see
what ever text you wanted to display - like watching subtitles on the tv
as it is at the moment. Going on what my tele does in text mode you
would also be 'locked into' your chosen channel as you have to get out
of mixed mode to swap the channel you are watching. If I go into mixed
mode on the tele ( cant remember if this is the same for subtitled
programs) the broadcasted picture also gets 'dimmed' with the text
overlayed in all its glory. While this would not be a problem when there
is a message to display - when its 'blank' then I guess there would
still be this dimmed image.

Although - the idea that you can have one central source to send your
announcements from sounds cool too!

Now - if every tv was plugged permanently up to a Kat5 distribution
center - then you would already have your central 'broadcast' point to
send the message from :)

/me throws cat amongst birds and runs away ::))

Wayne.