One of the most exciting areas we’ve recently expanded in the VMA Transport Stream Analyser is support for Teletext analysis and viewing. While Teletext is often considered a legacy service, for broadcasters, researchers, and enthusiasts it remains an important part of the DVB ecosystem — and in VMA Transport Stream Analyserwe’ve given it the same level of detail as we do with modern features like HbbTV or DVB-NIP.
Raw View – A Unique Tool for Developers
The Raw View mode is unique to VMA Transport Stream Analyser and provides a low-level, byte-accurate look at Teletext packets as they arrive. This is invaluable for developers and engineers working on decoders, or for anyone trying to understand how enhanced Teletext services are structured in practice. Instead of just showing the formatted page, Raw View lets you see the actual transmitted rows, including enhancement packets, X/26 overlays, and even empty rows.
Dump and Archive Capabilities
Another feature we’re proud of is the Dump function. With a single click you can capture entire Teletext streams to disk for archival or documentation purposes. This makes it possible to build historical Teletext collections, or to preserve specific pages (for example, graphics, logos, news, or service information) as they were transmitted.
Save and Reload Individual Pages
For more fine-grained work, individual Teletext pages can be saved in two different formats:
- Raw mode – preserves the original transmitted data exactly as received.
- TTX mode – stores the page in a more compact, ready-to-reload format.
Later, you can load these pages back into VMA to review, compare, or even test your own decoder implementations.
Fast Text Support
VMA also implements Fast Text navigation (the red, green, yellow, and blue buttons). This allows quick jumps between linked pages, just like on a classic TV set.
Level 1.0 / 1.5 Selector
Finally, users can toggle between Teletext Level 1.0 and 1.5 rendering. Level 1.0 provides the basic text and graphics that most people remember, while Level 1.5 adds support for national character sets and enhanced graphics. This makes VMA flexible enough to handle everything from basic services to more advanced implementations.
Level 1.0
Level 1.5
Why It Matters
Teletext is more than just nostalgia. It’s still part of DVB broadcasts worldwide, and remains a useful tool for information distribution, subtitles, and even hidden service signaling. With Raw View and the Dump function, VMA goes beyond being just a viewer — it becomes a laboratory tool for development, analysis, and long-term documentation of Teletext services.
If you work in broadcast engineering, enjoy DXing, or are simply curious about how Teletext works under the hood, the VMA Transport Stream Analyser now gives you the most complete set of tools available to explore it.
