Annual BBC RBS tests

Here's about 7mins of the test complete with BBC1 announcement...
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ix6uqyLvpds

My blog has both announcements and small clip from both BBC 1 and 2 if anyone cares.

I have specifically now made it stereo since I don't think Youtube allows that.

Weird. I didn't see anything about this back in April...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BbfIUR4SJX4&feature=related


Here's some longer clips of the RBS Test though..

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hIePsmWjiT4
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-VugwfB3b90

Interesting - that's the test card that used to be used by Pebble Mill when they went into circuit during a network evacuation test, as noted on MHP but with the demise of Pebble Mill it's unclear (for good reason) quite what the procedures are now. The last few times Pebble Mill was switched in for a test they were sent News 24 and Pages from Ceefax on seperate circuits to the normal distribution and added a "BM" DOG to to them so normal programmed continued.

Thanks for explaining why test card J is used for this, I didn't realise that the analogue service wasn't 16:9. I guess its been so long since I've really used the analogue service for any length of time.

There are LOTS of analogue 4:3 TVs out there... If the BBC broadcast 16:9 full-height material on analogue lots of people would be left watching tall and thin people on their 4:3 TVs.

The difference between J and W isn't just their aspect ratio - it is to do with analogue being PAL composite broadcast using analogue modulation and digital being compressed MPEG component as a data stream. They have different characteristics and thus different things to test.

Yes - AIUI that is an easier signal to generate as well as most decent SPGs (Sync Pulse Generators) will generate it. It is effectively horizontal chunks from different full frame test signals - colour bars, cross hatch, greyscale etc. with text inserted by the SPG. I suspect they specifically don't use TCJ as it then becomes easier to work out what is coming from where.

Given how many prats watch 4:3 feeds on 16:9 TVs squashed to 16:9, I'm wondering if anyone still using analogue 4:3 TVs would notice...

It's not always prats, my earlier Samsung CRT gives me no choice when on RGB inputs, such as the Sky Box. Changing to 4:3 does nothing. Stupid technology I think some earlier Panasonic CRTs have a similar flaw. It's also a problem on Sky HD, as the 720p and 1080i output options don't pillarbox the picture.

To be honest with you, it's not always their fault. I went round to my aunty the other day. She has a Hitachi HD 1080 Full HD TV, which has Freeview built in. What I noticed was that it doesn't allow an option of 4:3 instead it stretches 4:3 images to 16:9 regardless.

I think you'll find most people don't want huge ugly black bars down the sides of their widescreen sets. I certainly don't.

I'd rather black bars than people looking fatter than they are.