The Test Card Thread

When ITV Digital went bust / was closed down whatever happened, a lot of channels became unavailable for broadcast, and this testcard appeared on air instead! ISTR it was only for a day or two before this too got pulled!

When Testcard F celenbrated it's 25th Birthday, BBC One made a special compilation of classic Testcard Music to accompany it and Ceefax. Whether it was actually used on air I cannot confirm, but I certainly remember seeing the Track Listing for a disc called "25 Years of TCF" in a box full of stuff about old Ceefax discs. I also have no recollection of what tracks were on the disc but I dare say that Royal Daffodil was on there as it was used for donkeys years on an off!

The reason they used Myleene (or, well, an adult anyway) is because she talks you through how to use the test card to set up your HDTV's brightness, contrast, colour, sharpness and test your surround sound speakers. Although it's all done in a way the average viewer would understand, technically it is quite good.

It's the sort of thing they've been doing on American HD channels for years and a lot of Sky HD viewers have been asking for it.

In terms of pop culture, the "Indian Head" test card / test pattern is probably even more famous and iconic.

Maybe so, but not in the UK

Very true; that's why I just responded to the "all of broadcasting history" part.

in the context of the comment appearing on a UK TV forum it is correct.

No, it's not, because "all of broadcasting history" means something else. If this were an Australian forum, would it make sense to state that the Nine logo, for example, is the most famous in "all of broadcasting history"? I don't think so.

On the other hand, Test Card F has been used in 30 other countries, whereas RCA's "Indian Head" was just used in Yankland.

I think more people would recognise Carol Hersee than Big Chief Running Water

So we actually have a moving TCF? Do we get to see who actually wins the game of noughts and crosses then?

That is genius.

Possibly, but not necessarily. I've seen the Indian Head pattern used in many of graphic design applications in Continental Europe and elsewhere. It's a far older test card, so very few people (even in the US) are likely to remember it from air, but it's just such an iconic image in popular culture and design. Of course, Test Card F is known in some countries where it was used (even though it was only used very briefly in many, where it never became iconic), but it is highly unlikely to be recognized by people in places where it wasn't used.

BTW, I feel silly arguing the merits of two test patterns, but I have just defended my argument that Test Card F may not be the most iconic testcard in history -- possibly a blashphemous position, I know. Of course, that doesn't make Test Card F any less important or historic. I think it may all boil down to the tremendous influence of the American pop culture, rather than the merits of each testcard.

What happens is it starts with Myleene in the test card as pictured above, then it zooms in and she walks away from the chalkboard and clown (sadly!) and explains each part of the test one at a time, this takes about 10 mins as she goes through contrast, colour etc. and then a 5.1 speaker test. And then the second 10 mins is just the static test card with some suitably Pages from Ceefax -style music, with a clapper-board audio sync test in the middle.

It might be a good idea for someone to do that sort of thing for SD, if only for the bit where she says that if you can't see the sides and the middle bit isn't an exact circle, then you're not watching in widescreen!