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A test card, also known as a test pattern in North America, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active, but no program is being broadcast (often at startup and closedown). They allow vendors and viewers adjust their set for optimal functionality. They have been shown since the earliest TV broadcasts by the BBC, Baird Television and Marconi E.M.I systems.

The test card usually has a set of line-up patterns, enabling televisions to be adjusted to show the picture correctly. (Compare with SMPTE color bars). They would also typically be broadcast to a background of specially composed music (to avoid having to pay licensing fees for existing compositions), a tone, or the relayed broadcasting of a radio station also owned by the same broadcaster. There is now a cult following for test-card music.

Contents 1 Test cards 2 Decline 3 Test card music 4 Gallery 5 Timeline 6 External links

Test cards

Main article: List of test cards

BBC test cards are identifed by a letter. The most famous British test card is Test Card F which incorporates a colour photograph of Carole Hersee playing noughts and crosses with doll, used on the BBC and ITV from the beginning of colour broadcasts in the late 1960s. It was later updated as Test Card J, and for widescreen broadcasts as Test Card W. This test card has often been spoofed by comedians.

Decline

Formerly a common sight, test cards are now only rarely seen. Several things have led to the demise of the test card:

• Modern microcontroller-controlled televisions rarely, if ever, need adjustment, so test cards are much less important than previously.
• In developed countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom, the financial imperatives of commercial television broadcasting mean that air-time is now typically filled with programs and commercials (such as infomercials) 24 hours a day, and non-commercial broadcasters have to match this.
• In North America, most test cards such as the famous Indian Head test card of the 1950s and 1960s have long been relegated to history. The SMPTE color bars occasionally turn up, but with most North American broadcasters now following a 24-hour schedule, this too has become a rare sight. The switch from analog to digital broadcasting is expected to render this last test pattern obsolete.
• When there are in fact no standard programs being broadcast on the channels that do not have 24-hour programming, other, more informative features such as educational shows, i.e. the BBC Learning Zone, and teletext-type programmes such as Pages from Ceefax, ITV Nightscreen and 4-Tel On View are often broadcast, the latter type acting as the better test-card substitute as they just roll continuously.
• Australian national broadcaster SBS airs a weather map in place of a test card with music from albums sold by SBS and a ticker at the bottom of the screen during the early hours of the morning.
• Australian community broadcaster Channel 31 in Melbourne air Fishcam, a videocamera aimed at a fish tank.

On television networks and stations in most of the Third World countries, test cards are still seen because most television networks and stations in those countries do not have 24-hour programming.

Test card music

Background music often plays during the broadcast of a test card. This music is usually a composition commissioned by the station itself or "royalty-free" stock music in order to avoid having to pay royalties for something that does not generate revenue.

Test card music became popular in its own right when a group of enthusiasts discovered one another and realised they were not alone in enjoying the music played during the day in the 1950s, 60s and 70s while the test card was broadcast on BBC. The Test Card Circle, formed in 1989, is a group of such enthusiasts.

Gallery

Test Card F	Test Card J	Test Card W	Indian Head test card
SMPTE color bars	Philips PM5544	EBU Test Card

Other test cards include Multiburst, FCC Composite, NTC7 Combination, Convergence, and T-pulse.

Timeline

1934- The first testcard "Tuning Signals" are broadcast, the earliest being a simple line and circle broadcast using Baird's 30 line system.

1947- The first testcard, Testcard A is broadcast on the BBC network.

1948- Testcard B produced, but not broadcast.

1948- Testcard C, the far superior of this and the previous, is released. Lack of specification means that there were many variants released with subtle differences.

1955- The ITA Broadcasts an unlabelled testcard for the upcoming ITV service.

1955- A further ITA testcard featuring a greatly simplified testcard C is broadcast.

1960s- The ITA "Picasso" Testcard is released.

1964- Testcard D is released in 405 line format, accompanied with a monotonous hum- the first but not last to be so.

1964- Testcard E is released to comply with the BBC's new 625 line standard. Numerous television vendors complained that the image made on screen was unattractive and TCE was withdrawn after only a day of service.

1964- Once testcard E was withdrawn, the BBC released a modified version of TCC with more specific details on the inside circle.

1967- Testcard F, the most famous and used testcard, is released by the BBC. It features a picture of Carole Hersee playing noughts and crosses with doll.

1979- The ITA's ETP-1 testcard is released and is used extensively up until Channel 4 and ITV start broadcasting 24-hours.

1984- Testcard F is converted to an electric duplicate.

1970's- Testcard G is created, but only broadcast occasionally on BBC2.

1998- Testcards J and W are released. Testcard J is another modified version of F, with an added dot in the white area at the top. W is similar but designed for widescreen viewers.

External links

• The Test Card Gallery
• Television Test Cards, Tuning Signals, Idents and Clocks
• Barney Wol's website has details of the development of UK testcards F, J and W
• Test Card Circle Details of Test Cards and music.
• 625 UK dot com Flash Files - high quality Macromedia Flash examples of almost all British test cards and station idents (the test cards are at the bottom of the page and include C, D, F, J, W and ETP-1)
• Irish TV Testcards - Pictures of Test Cards used by the Irish TV broadcasters RTE, TV3 and UTV.

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