Test Card F

[Mikey405]

Hi everyone.

I have a question which I thought some experts on here may be able to answer. I'm putting together a DVD with various Test Cards on, but I wanted to know whether Test Card F should have the "extra triangle bits" on the top, bottom, right and left hand sides or not. I know Test Card J doesn't have them at the top and they are much less pronounced on the sides, but I seem to remember seeing the extra-bits on Test Card F so that you could get the overscan just right when the edges of the screen matched up in between the 2 triangles. On older sets with their curvier tubes Test Card F looks fine with the extra bits, but on a more modern set it looks a bit funny, and very weird indeed on a TFT monitor with no overscan whatsoever.

(Test card image size reduced for the forum.)

Thanks everyone.

From Mike.

[Martin Allen]

The following is the case, to the best of my knowledge...

The 1967 version of Test Card F had the arrowheads partially ‘mirrored’, as you describe (although maybe not quite as extensively as in your picture). This feature was used as an aid to framing the image of the 35mm slide in the flying spot scanner, not as an aid to domestic receiver overscan adjustment. Logically, if the FSS was set up properly, the ‘mirrored’ tips of the arrowheads would not be part of the transmitted picture anyway.
The ’67 version also had a ‘BBC2 COLOUR’ ident embedded in the card – and featured printed MHz values alongside each of the frequency gratings.

The 1969 version of F, brought in for BBC1 and ITA (and also adopted for BBC2 that year) was similar, except that the grating values had disappeared, and the ITA cards had their own embedded station idents.
For BBC1, the ‘BBC2 COLOUR’ card was used, but with the addition of a superimposed grey band to cover the embedded ‘BBC2 COLOUR’ ident with ‘BBC1’. This meant that only one FSS needed to be in operation for both channels.

It wasn’t until 1984 (as I recall), when Test Card F became digitally sourced, that the mirrored arrowhead tips became redundant – and the entire card was effectively ‘cropped’ to fit the transmitted picture area.

The problem with re-creating test cards on PCs is that all these little historical details can get lost or confused – and there’s a danger of ending up with something that looks sharp, clean and bright, but is not authentic...!

Hope this helps.

Martin.

[Steve_P]

The original Test Card F is here....

http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/bbc_test.html

Cheers,

Steve P.

[Focus Diode]

The later design had half the top arrows replaced by colour bars which were not fully integrated until the digital version came out.

I don't remember The half colour bar top version being used by ITV however!

Was a "BBC1 COLOUR" version ever made at some point?

Brian

[Steve_P]

I don't think so. They blanked out BBC2 COLOUR with a Bar with BBC1 on it. Sometimes you got the colour bars with this grey bar that said BBC1.

Cheers,

Steve P

[Mikey405]

Hi Martin.

Thank you for that useful information. I think that I will include the mirrored pieces just a little bit but not quite as much as on the picture shown above with the oldest version and cut them out completely on the newer version. You are of course absolutely right about authenticity, and I do have a more "distressed" (if that's the right word) looking TCF (similar to the one on Steve's link) with the frequencies written next to the gratings etc. so I may include both versions of TCF along with TCC, TCD and TCJ as well. The original disc has the old BBC2 TCF but the "mirrors" are rather too large, as pointed out by a friend of mine, although it still looks okay on older sets with their curvy tubes.

Thanks Martin.

From Mike.
PS. Does anyone have a Hi-Res Uncompressed (or very good quality compressed) picture of test card E?

[Tazman1966]

Hi Mike.

Welcome to pedants corner with me sitting in it! I was looking at those images of TCF that you were given on your post #1 and couldn't help but think that something didn't look quite right but wasn't sure what, but now having looked at the off screen photos in the link that Steve P gave, I now know what it is.

On your original post, the top and bottom central triangle shaped things are too wide meaning then that the black and blue or black and green squares are not square. Each square should sit evenly above each vertical line. if you go to the link that Steve P provided and compare, you'll see what I mean.

I hope you don't mind me noticing this and I really look forward to the new DVD.

All the very best,

[brunel]

Any use?

B