Editing Test Card F (section)

==Variants and updated versions==
===Unlettered BBC Widescreen test card===
A 16:9 (1.78:1) [[widescreen]] predecessor to Test Card W without an identifying letter first appeared in March 1998 as part of digital tests on the [[Astra 1D]] satellite, and was notably broadcast to the public on 6 November 1998 as part of a joke on ''[[Have I Got News For You]]'' to censor then-host [[Angus Deayton]] about discussing [[Peter Mandelson]]'s life.<ref name="meldrum"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_xCMbz4Tmc|title=- YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref> 

===Test Card J ===
{{anchor|testcardj}}
'''Test Card J''' is an updated version of Test Card F, and first appeared in November 1999. It includes the following changes relative to its predecessor:

* A newly added green square at the top of the screen is used to facilitate easier observation of chrominance to luminance delay.
* The negative black squares in the left hand step pattern should flash on and off at 1 [[hertz|Hz]]. This is to aid in the detection of frozen digital links.
* The central image is based on the same source photograph, but with some minor adjustments:
** It has been rescanned from the original transparency for improved colour accuracy.
** The image has been re-aligned within Test Card J such that the cross on the [[noughts and crosses]] board is at the exact centre of the screen, as some believe was originally intended.
** It is less tightly cropped, resulting in more edge detail from the original photograph being visible.<ref name='meldrum'/>

===Test Card W ===
{{anchor|testcardw}}
'''Test Card W''' is an updated 16:9 (1.78:1) widescreen version of Test Card F. It first appeared in November 1999 alongside Test Card J, with which it bears some similarities.

The [[SMPTE color bars|colour-bars]] on the top and right of the image are the full 100 per cent saturation version, unlike Test Cards F and J which use the 95 per cent type. Extra mirrored arrow-heads on the central axis at the sides mark the positions of the middle 4:3 and 14:9 sections of the image.

On [[Freeview (UK)|Freeview]] in the United Kingdom, Test Card W can be viewed at any time on most Freeview boxes using the MHEG-5 multimedia standard.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=728925|title=Hidden testcard on topup box |publisher=Digital Spy |date=2008-01-13 |access-date=2016-06-05}}</ref>

====BBC HD channel variant ("Test Card X") ==== 
{{anchor|testcardx}}
A [[1080i|1080 line]] variant of Test Card W (sometimes referred to unofficially<ref name="Quested_quote">{{cite web|author=Quested, Andy |work=BBC Internet blog|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/12/a_christmas_present_from_the_h.html|access-date=2013-12-21|title=A Christmas Present from the HD Channel!|quote=The test card seems to have been given the name "Test Card X" but not by us, it is in fact a modified high definition version of test card W}}</ref> as '''Test Card X''') was used on the now-defunct [[BBC HD|BBC HD channel]]. It could be viewed every two hours as part of the BBC HD preview slot. When viewed, it was enhanced with 5.1 surround sound tests. A [[Black & Lane's Ident Tones for Surround|BLITS]] tone is played alongside, which plays test tones at different frequencies from each of the different surround sound speakers, with markers (such as L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs) appearing inside some of the grey boxes of the testcard.<ref name="Quested">{{cite web|author=Quested, Andy |work=BBC Internet blog|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/12/a_christmas_present_from_the_h.html|access-date=2011-12-14|title=A Christmas Present from the HD Channel!}}</ref> BBC HD closed in March 2013; therefore Test Card X is no longer regularly broadcast. Test Card X did however make an appearance on the lunchtime edition of ''Sportsday'' on the [[BBC News (British TV channel)|BBC News channel]] on 18 January 2023, in place of a slide intended to show the [[BBC Sport]] website.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cleanfeed.thetvroom.com/16533/bloopers/the-test-card-puts-in-an-unscheduled-appearance-on-sportsday/ | title=The test card puts in an unscheduled appearance on Sportsday | date=18 January 2023 }}</ref>

====BBC Two variant (2016) ====
{{anchor|testcardx 2016}}
[[File:BBC 2 Testcard.png|thumb|Off-air screen capture of the 2016–2019 BBC Two iteration.]]
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2020}}
From August 2016 until July 2019, the latest iteration of the widescreen testcard could be seen briefly each morning at 7:00 am on BBC Two and BBC Two HD. At the centre bottom of the test card is an animated grey bar with graduations corresponding to 1/12 of a second. The animation is accompanied by a 'pip' that occurs when the animated bar reaches the centre mark (indicated by a 0), which together can be used to determine whether the digital audio and video signals are synchronised.