Abstract: The present invention provides apparatus and methods for formatting and displaying video information having particular application to electronic publishing systems. A video signal which includes a plurality of fields of video information is inputted into an index generator. Alphanumeric characters, which include unique index numbers are generated and inserted into a portion of one or more fields of the video signal. The index numbers and other characters are generated in response to a clock signal, which in the present embodiment, is provided by synchronization signals extracted from the inputted video signal. The index numbers and other characters are advanced, decremented or otherwise modified in response to a control signal which is independent of the frame frequency of the video signal. The control signal may originate from a variety of sources, such as by way of example, switching means operated by a user, an external computer, or a predetermined delay coupled to the synchronization signals.