ALEVT(1x) Teletext decoder ALEVT(1x)

alevt - X11 Teletext browser

alevt [options]

alevt is an X11 program for browsing and searching Teletext pages received by a compatible decoder (at the moment, bttv).

A summary of command line options is included below. The X11 user interface is described in the built-in manual.

Where to display the windows. Default: $DISPLAY.
Specifies the size and position of the windows. Default: 41x25.
Use the given device name. Default: /dev/vbi, /dev/vbi0, /dev/video0, /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0 tried in this order.
Try some fine tuning if you have a lot of decoding errors (these lightning symbols). This allows fine tuning of the decoder circuit. The pre finetune behaviour was -finetune 0. Default: 1.
[-parent] ppp[.ss]
Open a new window with the page number given by ppp and an optional subpage index given by ss.

The -parent keyword is just for completeness and not normally used. The page number alone is sufficient. Default: 900.

Open a new child window with the page number given by ppp and an optional subpage index given by ss. About the concept of parent and child windows see the built-in manual.
Enables/disables the error reduction code which substitutes errors on a page by data from a previously received one. Enabled by default.
Enables/disables the error bell. Normally enabled.
Selects the character set to use. Characters not present in the selected set are replaced by similar looking symbols. (default: latin-1)
Specifies the program name if using the DVB interface.
Specifies the teletext PID if using the DVB interface.
Show summary of options.
Show version of program.

The order of options is important! Each page number opens a new window with the previously given geometry, device, and display. For example, to open two windows on the local display and one on display foo:0 you would start it with:

alevt 100 300 -display foo:0 100

Or, one window from /dev/vbi0 and one from /dev/vbi1 (untested *g*):

alevt -vbi /dev/vbi0 100 -vbi /dev/vbi1 100

The -child options requires a parent window. So, it must be preceded by a parent or another child window.

When saving pages alevt asks for a format string. Look at alevt-cap(1). The chapter Format Specifiers gives an explanation.

alevt has no support to set or change the TV channel. This should be done with another (not supplied) program like xawtv or set-tv from the xawtv package. Maybe in the future there will be a more sophisticated method in bttv to switch channels etc with a dedicated tuner application. But, at the moment, you have to live with it...

The -progname or -pid option specifies the program or teletext PID if using the DVB interface.

If neither of these two options is used, alevt outputs informations about the currently accessible streams and uses the first of these PIDs as default. This output contains the PIDs and names that can be used as an input for the -progname or -pid option in the context of the currently chosen TV channel.

/dev/vbi*

/dev/dvb/adapter*/demux*

Select the teletext stream by the PID hex value:

alevt -vbi /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0 -pid 0x0237

Select the teletext stream by the PID decimal value:

alevt -vbi /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0 -pid 567

Select the teletext stream by the program name:

alevt -vbi /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0 -progname ´kabel eins´

alevt-date(1), alevt-cap(1), X(3x), xawtv(1x), and the built-in manual.

Bug reports to <https://gitlab.com/alevt/alevt>.

1.8.2 LINUX