Viewdata, Prestel, Philips
PRESTEL
VIEWDATA |
Introduction
Prestel, the brand name for the UK Post Office Telecommunications’s Viewdata technology, was an interactive videotex system developed during the late 1970s and commercially launched in 1979. It achieved a maximum of 90,000 subscribers in the UK and was eventually sold by BT in 1994.
The technology was a forerunner of on-line services today. Instead of a computer, a television set connected to a dedicated terminal was used to receive information from a remote database via a telephone line. The service offered thousands of pages ranging from consumer information to financial data but with limited graphics.
Below you will find the Philips G11 supplement for their Viewdata capable G11 televisions, the G22C708/01 & G26C731/01. Service data manuals for these range of televisions (there were more) are very rare, if anyone has anything and would be willing to donate, please use the contact form above.