Editing List of BBC test cards

{{short description|None}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

The following is a list of [[test card]]s used by the [[BBC]] at various points in [[broadcasting]].

==Tuning Signals==
[[File:First TV TestCard.svg|thumb|upright=0.7|First tuning signal]]
[[File:AxusteBBC.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Later tuning signal from 1937]]
The first "[[Interval signal|Tuning Signals]]" test card was broadcast by the BBC in 1934. It was a simple line and circle broadcast using [[John Logie Baird|Baird's]] [[Mechanical television|30-line system]], and was used to synchronise the mechanical scanning system.<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC Tuning Signals |url=http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/bbc_tune.html |date=29 March 2000 |publisher=Meldrum |accessdate=14 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223154155/http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/bbc_tune.html |archivedate=23 February 2009 }}</ref>

==Test Card A==
Test Card A was introduced in 1936–37. However, it was only broadcast as engineering tests<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=HERSEE |first=G. |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/BBC/BBC-Books/bbc_monograph_69.pdf |title=BBC Engineering Department Monograph, Number 69 |date=September 1967 |publisher=BBC |pages=6}}</ref> from January to (approx.) October 1947, when it was replaced by the first version of Test Card C. An electronically generated "cruciform" test card (or "art bars") was often shown instead of Test Card A until well into the 1960s.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20160716000423/http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/Test-Cards/index.html#405-Lines {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

The test card was designed to test for focus, frequency response and scan geometry.<ref>HERSEE, G. (September 1967). ''[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/BBC/BBC-Books/bbc_monograph_69.pdf BBC Engineering Department Monograph], Number 69'' (PDF). BBC. p.&nbsp;5.</ref> High frequency response is indicated by gratings corresponding to 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 MHz; while low frequency response is indicated by a solid black bar below the central circle.

==Test Card B==
[[File:BBCtestcardb.png|thumb|upright=0.7|Test Card B (generic reconstruction)]]
{{Disputed section|date=December 2017}}

Test Card B was an early BBC television test card. It was very similar to Test Card A and also only broadcast as engineering tests.<ref name=":1" /> The original card has since gone missing. The only differences were that the frequency bars were juxtaposed, the values were deleted, and an [[Ilford Photo|Ilford]] Panchromatic Response Chart placed below the circle where the letter box had been, the letter box in Test Card A was moved to the top of the card replacing the vertical resolution test.<ref name="meldrum">{{cite web |date=29 March 2000 |title=BBC Test Cards |url=http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/bbc_test.html |accessdate=14 August 2009 |publisher=Meldrum}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

==Test Card C==
[[File:Testcard c.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Test Card C]]
Test Card C<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_anderson/27707084490/|title=Test Card C BBC|date=July 16, 2015|via=Flickr}}</ref> was a BBC television test card first broadcast in 1947.<ref name=":1" /> It was the first test card to resemble the famous Test Card F.<ref name="meldrum"/> 

Test Card C allowed adjustment and verification of parameters such as:<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Pemberton |first=Alan |date=2016-03-03 |title=Not just a pretty face... Technical descriptions of UK test cards |url=http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/Test-Cards/Test-Card-Technical.html |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=Pembers' Ponderings |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165836/http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/Test-Cards/Test-Card-Technical.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

* Aspect Ratio: central circles

* Resolution: five gratings corresponding to frequencies of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 MHz
* Contrast: five steps with the top square corresponding to 100% and the bottom square to 30% luminance
* Linearity: white squares 
* Low Frequency Response: letterbox above the circle
* Reflections: black and white areas to the sides of the circle
* Focus: diagonal black and white stripes
* Picture into sync: triggered by the castellations 

The card was available as individual rolls of [[test film]] in the UK and many [[Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth countries]] up until the end of the black-and-white television era.<ref>{{cite web |date=28 March 2015 |title=BBC Testcard C Telecine Lineup 16mm Film Loop |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0FyGTg1Abg |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=13 December 2014 |title=Telecine - a brief guide |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGLZ3ru3N5k |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

Test Card C continued in use on 405-lines until 1964 being replaced by Test Card D.<ref name=":3" />

625-line variants of Test Card C were later used in [[Jamaica]], [[Mauritius]], [[Singapore]] and [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. Heavy modifications of Test Card C were used by [[ABC Television (Australian TV network)|ABC Television]] in Australia<ref>{{cite web |title=Other 4:3 Testcards &#124; TVARK |url=https://tvark.org/features/testcards/other-4x3-testcards}}</ref> and [[National Iranian Radio and Television|NIRT]] in Iran.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 1977 |title=Television Servicing |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Practical-Television/70s/Television-Servicing-UK-1977-12.pdf |accessdate=17 April 2024 |page=44}}</ref>

=== Pye Test Card G ===
[[File:MonoscopeCU.jpg|thumb|Pye Test Card G as seen on a [[monoscope]].]]
[[Pye Ltd.|Pye]] developed a monochrome variant of Test Card C called Test Card G.<ref name=":1" /> It was used in several countries that use 625-line [[PAL]] and [[SECAM]], such as [[People's Republic of Bulgaria]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-07 |title=Non-UK Television Test Cards, Tuning Signals, Clocks and Idents - Bulgaria |url=http://www.radios-tv.co.uk/Pembers/Test-Cards/Non-UK.html#Bulgaria |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607162532/http://www.radios-tv.co.uk/Pembers/Test-Cards/Non-UK.html#Bulgaria |archive-date=7 June 2019 |access-date=2023-01-13}}</ref> [[Denmark]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-07 |title=Non-UK Television Test Cards, Tuning Signals, Clocks and Idents - Denmark |url=http://www.radios-tv.co.uk/Pembers/Test-Cards/Non-UK.html#Denmark |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607162532/http://www.radios-tv.co.uk/Pembers/Test-Cards/Non-UK.html#Denmark |archive-date=7 June 2019 |access-date=2023-01-13}}</ref> [[Luxembourg]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kemp |first=AUTHOR: D. |title=How to receive Continental television |url=https://transdiffusion.org/2018/09/10/how-to-receive-continental-television/ |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=Transdiffusion |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Thailand]], [[Barbados]], [[Malaysia]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mann |first=Anthony |date=2005-03-21 |title=TV Malaysia received in Perth, Western Australia 1975-1987 |url=http://internal.physics.uwa.edu.au/~agm/tvphotos/rtm.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050321175707/http://internal.physics.uwa.edu.au/~agm/tvphotos/rtm.html |archive-date=21 March 2005 |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=Anthony (Tony) Mann's TVDX page}}</ref> and [[Hungarian People's Republic]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Hungarian ETC's |url=https://ing-sat.hu/hun-monoszkop.htm}}</ref> but not in Britain.<ref name="meldrum" /> A slightly modified version was used by [[YLE]] in [[Finland]] until it switched to the colour [[Telefunken FuBK]] test card in the 1970s, as well as in [[Norway]] where [[NRK]] and [[Telenor]] used it in conjunction with the [[EIA 1956 resolution chart]] until it switched to the Philips PM5544, Test Card F and the Telefunken FuBK test cards in the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 February 2020 |title=Vintage Electronics Blog & Forum - Radios, Television, Hi-Fi |url=http://www.radios-tv.co.uk/Pembers/Test-Cards/Non-UK.html |access-date=6 September 2017 |archive-date=7 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607162532/http://www.radios-tv.co.uk/Pembers/Test-Cards/Non-UK.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Test Card D==
[[File:Testcard_D.png|thumb|right|Test Card D]]Test Card D was a television test card first broadcast on 5 May 1964 by both the BBC and the ITA.<ref name=":1" /> This Test Card was a joint effort between the BBC, BREMA and the ITA.<ref name=":1" />

This was the first test card to be based on a specification.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_anderson/27952357306/|title=Test Card D BBC|date=July 30, 2015|via=Flickr}}</ref> Test Card D was amended, and the amendment introduced on 1 December 1965 as the radio and television trade objected to the original. Both versions had Reduced Power variants from the start.

==Test Card E (later Test Card C)==
[[File:Testcard E2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Modified Test Card C]]
Test Card E was a television test card designed in 1964 and made to accommodate the 625-line system on [[BBC2]], as opposed to the 405-line system of Test Card D.<ref name=":1" /> However, Test Card E lasted for only four and a half days before being withdrawn.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=HERSEE |first=G. |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/BBC/BBC-Books/bbc_monograph_69.pdf |title=BBC Engineering Department Monograph, Number 69 |date=September 1967 |pages=7}}</ref> Test Card E was thereafter replaced by a modified version of Test Card C, which lasted on BBC2 until December 1964, the illustrated version of Test Card C shown here replaced the first version, and was discontinued in September 1969, and when the colour Test Card F was introduced in July 1967, Test Card C was only shown between 9.00 and 9.58 a.m. 

A version of the modified Test Card C also aired on BBC1 and BBC 2 from November 1969 (with the BBC1 and BBC 2 logos replacing the "BBC2 625 LINES" caption). This modified Test Card C also had versions where Reduced Power also appeared in the ident box. This version of Test Card C was last used in February 1975, and was only ever generated locally at the transmitter. Test Card E did however see later usage by [[RTÉ]] in Ireland and [[Rádio e Televisão de Portugal|RTP]] in Portugal alongside Test Card D.

==Test Card F==
{{Main|Test Card F}}

Test Card F was the BBC's longest-running and most famous test card, featuring [[Carole Hersee]] and [[Bubbles the Clown]]. There have been many different Test Card F variations.<ref name="meldrum"/> It was first broadcast on 2 July 1967 (the day after the first colour pictures appeared to the public on television) on [[BBC Two|BBC2]].<ref name=":2" />

==Test Card G==
Test Card G was a television test card broadcast occasionally by the BBC. It was a variant of the famous [[Philips PM5544]] test card and was introduced around 1971 as their first electronically generated colour test card.<ref name="meldrum"/> Test Card G was generally used by local transmitters for opt outs or during times when a particular region was not showing a programme broadcast from London. It was also used in place of Test Card F nationally from time to time when the projector showing F's photographic slide was not available or undergoing maintenance. This ended some time after Test Card F was converted to electronic form in 1984.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.oodletuz.fsnet.co.uk/maxtco/memory1.htm |title = Test Card Memory Lane |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314085649/http://www.oodletuz.fsnet.co.uk/maxtco/memory1.htm |archive-date=14 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Test Card G was also occasionally used by [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] and its regulator the [[Independent Broadcasting Authority|IBA]] alongside Test Card F and EBU colour bars before switching over to the [[ETP-1]] test card in 1979, though [[London Weekend Television]] (LWT)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4W9X9kizDw|title=LWT Closedown - 1984|date=27 December 2010 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> and [[ITV Channel Television]]{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}, two constituent franchisee companies in the ITV network structure, continued to broadcast Test Card G after closedown well into the 1980s.

<gallery>
File:PM5544 (Testcard G variation).png|Recreation of BBC Test Card G (PM5544 variation).
File:BBC Test Card G.png|Components of BBC Test Card G.
File:PM5544 BEM.jpg|Preserved [[BBC Birmingham]] Test Card G generator (originally installed at [[Pebble Mill Studios]]) at the [[Broadcast Engineering Conservation Group|Broadcast Engineering Museum]], Lincolnshire.
</gallery>

==Test Card H==
[[File:BBC Test Card H.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Test Card H]]
Test Card H was designed as a line up chart for cameras in-studio, possibly to test [[chrominance|chroma]] specifications as well as [[display resolution|resolution]] and [[bandwidth (signal processing)|bandwidth]]. The "H" designation was solely used for this chart, and was therefore never allocated to a Test Card used for broadcasting; following this, the letter "I" was also passed over as a Test Card letter, having been considered too similar to the number "1", therefore leading to Test Card J being the next in the series.<ref name="Barney-wol.net">{{cite web |title=Test Card J |publisher=Barney-wol.net |date=29 March 2000 |url=http://www.barney-wol.net/video/testcardj/testcardj.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070701213757/http://www.barney-wol.net/video/testcardj/testcardj.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 July 2007 |accessdate=14 August 2009 }}</ref>

==Test Card J==
Test Card J is an enhanced revision of Test Card F, first broadcast in November 1999.<ref name="meldrum"/>

==Test Card W==
'''Test Card W''' is an updated 16:9 (1.78:1) [[widescreen]] version of Test Card F. A predecessor card, 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. Test Card W first appeared in November 1999 alongside Test Card J, with which it bears some similarities. Both aforementioned test cards were designed for the 16:9 (widescreen) ratio.<ref name="meldrum"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_xCMbz4Tmc|title=- YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

==Test Card X==
The high-definition version of Test Card W is visually similar but officially lacks a designation letter. This version is often referred to as Test Card X, but this is not a designation which the BBC recognises.<ref>{{cite web |last=Quested |first=Andy |title=A Christmas Present from the HD Channel! |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/12/a_christmas_present_from_the_h.html |date=17 December 2008 |publisher=[[BBC]] |accessdate=14 August 2009 }}</ref> It is designed for use on [[high-definition television|high-definition]] TV services, & had been included a part of [[BBC HD]]'s preview loop since November 2008 (though it had been in use internally at the BBC for several years prior) until the channel's closure in March 2013.

==Unidentified test card==
[[File:BBC Electronic Card.jpg|thumb|Recreation of the BBC unnamed electronic test card]]
An electronically generated image was first broadcast on 21 June 1997 on BBC2 between 3{{nbsp}}am and 4{{nbsp}}am. It was also broadcast in October 1997 from 3:29{{nbsp}}am until 3:44{{nbsp}}am, when, at the same time, BBC1 showed Test Card G. Both channels reverted over to these at the same time, and reverted to TCF at the same time, as part of a switching test with BBC Birmingham, whereby in the event of a need to evacuate BBC TV to [[Pebble Mill Studios]] in [[Birmingham]], such as a power failure [[Television Centre, London#Power failures|as happened in June 2000]], a switch would be thrown, putting Birmingham in control of the network, until [[Television Centre, London|BBC Television Centre]] could regain control. Both TCG and this image were transmitted from Birmingham to prove the switching facility worked.

This test card was then seen again on 17 April 2007 between 4{{nbsp}}am and 5{{nbsp}}am during the [[BBC Learning Zone]]. Both transmissions were accompanied by a four-tone test tone, ranging from extremely low frequency to a very high shrill. It is unknown if this Test Card has a name,<ref name="meldrum"/> though this test card has also been known to be used on point-to-point satellite links originating from the [[Fucino Space Centre]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://ing-sat.what.hu/testcard-feeds.htm|title=Testcards-feeds|website=ing-sat.what.hu}}</ref> and other places in Italy (Telefisco,<ref name=":0" /> Lapet,<ref name=":0" /> etc), and by [[Altice Portugal|Marconi Portugal]].<ref name=":0" /> Another version, modified for [[NTSC]], was used by [[Televisión Nacional de Chile]] (TVN)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Question: this is a layout of a SMPTE-like test pattern used by Chilean channel TVN (which uses NTSC) that I don't remember having seen anywere else. Could have been a custom design for the channel? |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/VIDEOENGINEERING/comments/mqi8yt/question_this_is_a_layout_of_a_smptelike_test/ |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=reddit |date=14 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref> in the 1990s.

==Untransmitted test cards==
There have been a number of untransmitted test cards. They would most likely be for internal use inside the BBC. Most of them are adapted from Test Card F.<ref name="meldrum"/>

==Comic Relief test card==
A [[Comic Relief]] test card was broadcast on BBC1 on 18 March 1993 as part of Comic Relief.<ref name="meldrum"/> This test card featured ten-year-old competition winner Hannah Marriott, wearing a red nose.

==See also==
* [[Trade test colour films]]
* [[PM5544]]
* [[ETP-1]]
* [[Video-signal generator]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.testcardcircle.org.uk The Test Card Circle]  Details of the UK's Trade Test Transmissions including the history of the BBC and ITA Test Cards, a look at the music used and full details about the Trade Test Colour Films shown from the late fifties to 1973.
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/testcards_ceefax.shtml BBC Test Card Video]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20000613131712/http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/reception/tech/testcard.shtml BBC The Television Test Card]
* [http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/ BBC Test Cards] from meldrum.co.uk
* [http://www.testcardcircle.org.uk/tchistory.html A Very Concise History of Test Cards] by Frank Mitchell

{{standard test item}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Bbc Test Cards}}
[[Category:BBC-related lists|Test cards]]
[[Category:BBC test cards]]
[[Category:1967 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Telecommunications-related introductions in 1967]]