TVNZ plan deaf service

Television New Zealand has begun experimental transmission aimed at introducing a new service which should increase viewing enjoyment for deaf people.

Called teletext, it may become part of a daily transmission by next year. The service will be free to the viewer.

Teletext takes up an unused section of the signal to transmit detailed information which is displayed on home receivers in written and graphic form. It requires a decoder attached to or incorporated in television sets to enable the information to be displayed.

TVNZ says several hundred pages of detailed information can be made available and rapidly selected by the viewer. The information ranges from frequently updated news and weather, both national and regional, to travel and consumer and social services data.

Teletext is increasingly used in the United Kingdom to provide captioning of programmes for hard-of-hearing viewers. Both BBC and ITV are stepping up the range and quantity of programmes they are making available in this way.

Broadcasting Corporation chairman Ian Cross said yesterday there was not a time frame for the introduction of the teletext system. Its introduction was being considered only on an experimental basis. The corporation’s board would need to study the financial and social aspects before any extended system could be considered.