thumb|Reconstruction of the Bildschirmtext welcomepage after login

thumb|1987 photo of a German youth standing next to a German Post Office Btx terminal

thumb|German "Multifunktionales Telefon 12"

thumb|Modem for accessing the Bildschirmtext service

Bildschirmtext (German "screen text", abbrev. Btx or BTX) was an online videotex system launched in West Germany in 1983 by the Deutsche Bundespost, the (West) German postal service.

Btx originally required special hardware (it was based on GEC 4000 series computers) which had to be bought or rented from the British General Post Office. The data was transmitted through the telephone network using V.23 modems and the content was displayed on a television set.

History

Originally conceived to follow the UK Prestel specifications, and developed on contract by a small UK company called Systems Designers Ltd (originally merged into EDS and now part of HP) for IBM Germany. Btx added a number of additional features before launch, including some inspired by the French Minitel service, to create a new display standard of its own, which in 1981 was designated the CEPT1 profile.

The system was presented at the IFA in Berlin, with a trial system installed in Düsseldorf and Berlin in 1980.

In 1981, the system was expanded to rest of Germany, with the necessary network being developed by IBM. Each page could display 40×24 semigraphic text characters.

References

  • Screen Shots from Btx terminal displaying its description and history
  • Some example pages
  • Bildschirmtext: Computing for all?, Der Spiegel, 14 March 1983. Article on the launch of the system.