Is It just me who finds Testcards eerie?

Ok, and so what's the difference if any, between these differently designated test cards ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BBC_test_cards

Test Card F is the original version of the card featuring Carol Hersee and Bubbles - it was read from a slide scanner and then telecined into electronic form.

Test Card G is a Philips-designed electronic card, consisting of colour blocks within a circle.

Test Card J is the 4:3 digitally reworked version of TCF, with more of Carol and Bubbles visible and the image corrected so that the cross is in the dead centre of the screen.

Test Card W is the 16:9 version of TCJ. It's also animated (two squares flash on and off).

Test Card X is an (as yet unconfirmed and unbroadcast) HD version of TCJ, presumably again reworked and with a more hi-res image of Carol and Bubbles.

Thanks for the links and replies guys, strangely interesting stuff these cards.

I totally agree; I used to be terrified when I was around 4 and saw the test card, and was still rather scared of BBC TWO when they got their first "2" idents in 1991 (that music was eerie...)

I think I used to be scared by Optics and the 1993 Six O'Clock News theme tune.

Is she ever going to take her bloody move?, I've been waiting almost 40 years to see what she does!.

You wait. It would blow your mind if you ever saw what she can do.

Indeed ... she's older, more experienced, and likes to use much bigger sticks of chalk these days! Or, so I've heard!


(She's also got a much bigger blackboard for playing noughts and crosses with THAT clown too!)

the clown is also holding chalk, although that was cropped off the original test card f

Damn, beat me to this remark.
Must be a new record, a simple game of noughts and crosses is still going on 40yrs after it started. Somebody press the Play button.

Yes I know its a still picture, so sue me :p

Just to come back again and explain this errie thing some more. Back in the days of Analouge Sky (from memory) channels 3,7,9,11 and 13 were all guarded by Videocypt however Channels 9 & 11 used to sometimes briefly ''come thru'' and 11 was Filmnet I think..... Anyway 3 & 7 were always Videocypt and I always then had this thing that one day one of those would 'pop though' and it would have a freaked me out. The mind of a young child people.... There is a list online of the old 'UK' Analogue sky line up somewhere but Ive never been able to find it again.