Test card

Test cards typically contain a set of patterns to enable television cameras and receivers to be adjusted to show the picture correctly (see SMPTE color bars). Most modern test cards include a set of calibrated color bars which will produce a characteristic pattern of "dot landings" on a vectorscope, allowing chroma and tint to be precisely adjusted between generations of videotape or network feeds. SMPTE bars—and several other test cards—include analog black (a flat waveform at 7.5 IRE, or the NTSC setup level), full white (100 IRE), and a "sub-black", or "blacker-than-black" (at 0 IRE), which represents the lowest low-frequency transmission voltage permissible in NTSC broadcasts (though the negative excursions of the colorburst signal may go below 0 IRE). Between the color bars and proper adjustment of brightness and contrast controls to the limits of perception of the first sub-black bar, an analog receiver (or other equipment such as VTRs) can be adjusted to provide impressive fidelity.

Test cards have also been used to determine actual coverage contours for new television broadcasting antennas and/or networks. In preparation for the new commercial ITV service in the 1950s, the Independent Television Authority (ITA) tasked Belling & Lee, an Enfield-based British electronics company best known for inventing the Belling-Lee connector just over three decades earlier, with designing a series of Pilot Test Transmission test cards and slides{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6pq7XycgGw | title=1950s-60s ITA Test Card with Music | website=YouTube | date=7 May 2023 }} intended for potential viewers and DX-enthusiasts to test the ITA's new Band III VHF transmitter network that was designed with the assistance of the General Post Office (GPO), then the UK's government-run PTT agency. These test cards, some featuring the G9AED call sign assigned by the GPO for said transmissions, featured a squiggly line in a circle in the middle of the test card with an on-screen line gauge indicated in miles which was used as a guide to reveal the distance between the receiver, the (temporary) transmitter and a replicating landscape feature causing ghosting. Said test cards were mainly transmitted from temporary mobile transmitters attached to caravan trailers based at the predicted locations of the ITA's eventual main transmitters, such as Croydon, Lichfield, Emley Moor and Winter Hill.{{cite web | url=https://transdiffusion.org/2021/05/10/to-the-north/ | title=To the North }}{{Cite web|url=http://sub-tv.co.uk/atvtestcards.asp|title=sub-TV: ATV Test Cards|website=sub-tv.co.uk}} Almost a decade later, the BBC started using a modified SMPTE monochrome test card radiating from the Crystal Palace transmitter to test its new UHF network which it eventually launched as BBC Two in 1964.

Test cards are also used in the broader context of video displays for concerts and live events. There are a variety of different test patterns, each testing a specific technical parameter: gradient monotone bars for testing brightness and color; a crosshatch pattern for aspect ratio, alignment, focus, and convergence; and a single-pixel border for over-scanning and dimensions.{{cite web |last=Claiborne |first=Vickie |title=Video Testing Images |url=https://plsn.com/articles/video-digerati/video-testing-images/ |website=PLSN |date=9 November 2019 |access-date=16 March 2020}}

File:Indian Head Test Pattern with Labels.png used mainly in North America from 1940 to the 1970s with its elements labelled, describing the use of each element in aligning a black & white analog TV receiver.]]

File:RTF Test card 819-lines 1953.jpg test card (1953) for the French 819-line TV system. Also used in French Algeria, with modifications also used by TMC in Monaco,{{cite web | url=https://forum.retrotechnique.org/t/mires-tv-francaises-anciennes/81275?page=2 | title=Mires TV françaises anciennes | date=5 December 2019 }} Telesaar in the Saar Protectorate,{{cite web | url=https://saar-nostalgie.de/Telesaar.htm | title=Telesaar }} and TVN in Chile{{Cite web | url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Technology/Technology-All-Eras/Archive-Practical-Television-IDX/70s/Television-Servicing-UK-1974-02-OCR-Page-0033.pdf | title=Pirate TV | website=www.worldradiohistory.com}}]]

File:SW Testbild auf Philips TD1410U.jpg test card.]]

Test cards are as old as TV broadcasts, with documented use by the BBC in the United Kingdom in its early 30-line mechanical Baird transmissions from 1934 and later on as simplified "tuning signals" shown before startup{{cite web|title=BBC Tuning Signals |url=http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/bbc_tune.html |date=29 March 2000 |publisher=Meldrum |access-date=13 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223154155/http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/bbc_tune.html |archive-date=23 February 2009 }} as well as in Occupied France during World War II.{{cite web|url=https://www.vivelapub.fr/retrospective-la-mire-tv/|title=Rétrospective: la mire à la télévision (1953 – 2002)|date=January 5, 2012|website=VivelaPub}} They evolved to include gratings for resolution testing, grids to assist with picture geometry adjustments, and grayscale for brightness and contrast adjustments. For example, all these elements can be seen in a Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française 819-line test card introduced in 1953.

In North America, most test cards such as the famous Indian-head test pattern of the 1950s and 1960s have long since been relegated to history. The SMPTE color bars occasionally turn up, but with most North American broadcasters now following a 24-hour schedule, these too have become a rare sight.

With the introduction of color TV, electronically generated test cards were introduced. They are named after their generating equipment (ex: Grundig VG1000,{{Cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/EP0122124A3/zh|title=Test signal generator}}{{cite web|url=https://all-guidesbox.com/manual/370365/grundig-72010-016-80-network-card-52.html?page=30|title=Grundig 72010-016.80 TV Service manual PDF View/Download, Page # 30|website=all-guidesbox.com}} Philips PM5544,{{cite web|url=https://frank.pocnet.net/other/sos/Philips_PM5544_PM3400_Publication.pdf#page=3 |title=Combined colour/monochrome pattern generator PM 5544}} Telefunken FuBK,{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J61AAQAAIAAJ&q=%22FuBK%22+-wikipedia|title=EBU Review|first=European Broadcasting|last=Union|date=February 6, 1988|publisher=Administrative Office of the European Broadcasting Union|via=Google Books}} etc.), TV station (ex: BBC test card) or organization (ex: SMPTE color bars, EBU colour bars).

In developed countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the financial imperatives of commercial television broadcasting mean that air-time is now typically filled with programmes and commercials (such as infomercials) 24 hours a day, and non-commercial broadcasters have to match this.

A late test card design, introduced in 2005 and fully adapted for HD, SD, 16:9 and 4:3 broadcasts, is defined on ITU-R Rec. BT.1729.{{cite web|url=https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bt/R-REC-BT.1729-0-200504-I!!PDF-E.pdf |title=ITU-R Rec. BT.1729}} It offers markings specificity design to test format conversions, chroma sampling, etc.

Formerly a common sight, test cards are now only rarely seen outside of television studios, post-production, and distribution facilities. In particular, they are no longer intended to assist viewers in calibration of television sets. Several factors have led to their demise for this purpose:

• Modern microcontroller-controlled analogue televisions rarely if ever need adjustment, so test cards are much less important than previously. Likewise, modern cameras and camcorders seldom need adjustment for technical accuracy, though they are often adjusted to compensate for scene light levels, and for various artistic effects.
• Use of digital interconnect standards, such as CCIR 601 and SMPTE 292M, which operate without the non-linearities and other issues inherent to analog broadcasting, do not introduce color shifts or brightness changes; thus the requirement to detect and compensate for them using this reference signal has been virtually eliminated. (Compare with the obsolescence of stroboscopes as used to adjust the speed of record players.) On the other hand, digital test signal generators do include test signals which are intended to stress the digital interface, and many sophisticated generators allow the insertion of jitter, bit errors, and other pathological conditions that can cause a digital interface to fail.
• Likewise, use of digital broadcasting standards, such as DVB and ATSC, eliminates the issues introduced by modulation and demodulation of analog signals.
• Test cards including large circles were used to confirm the linearity of the set's deflection systems. As solid-state components replaced vacuum tubes in receiver deflection circuits, linearity adjustments were less frequently required (few newer sets have user-adjustable "VERT SIZE" and "VERT LIN" controls, for example). In LCD and other deflectionless displays, the linearity is a function of the display panel's manufacturing quality; for the display to work, the tolerances will already be far tighter than human perception.

For custom-designed video installations, such as LED displays in buildings or at live events, some test images are custom-made to fit the specific size and shape of the setup in question. These custom test images can also be an opportunity for the technicians to hide inside jokes for the crew to see while installing equipment for a show.

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{{main article|Monoscope}}

Rather than physical test cards, which had to be televised using a camera, television stations often used a special purpose camera tube which had the test pattern painted on the inside screen of the tube. Each tube was only capable of generating the one test image, hence it was called a monoscope.

Monoscopes were similar in construction to an ordinary cathode-ray tube (CRT), only instead of displaying an image on its screen it scanned a built-in image. The monoscope contained a formed metal target in place of the phosphor coating at its "screen" end and as the electron beam scanned the target, rather than displaying an image, a varying electrical signal was produced generating a video signal from the etched pattern. Monoscope tubes had the advantage over test cards that a full TV camera was not needed, and the image was always properly framed and in focus. They fell out of use after the 1960s as they were not able to produce color images.

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File:TwibrightLinksTestCard.png since 2001]]

A lesser-known kind of test pattern is used for the calibration of photocopiers.{{cite web|url=http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1339&page=4 |title=Samsung SF531P PCSTATS Review – Printer Test Patterns |publisher=Pcstats.com |date=2007-10-15 |access-date=2010-01-01}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thing.net/~grist/cyano/jangva/roomecho.htm |title=Projection: Room A / Room B |publisher=Thing.net |access-date=2010-01-01}} Photocopier test patterns are physical sheets that are photocopied, with the difference in the resulting photocopy revealing any tell-tale deviations or defects in the machine's ability to copy.

There are also test patterns kits and software developed specifically for many consumer electronics. The B&K Television Analyst was developed in the 1960s for testing monochrome TV sets in the NTSC standard and was later modified for European and Australian PAL standards. Among other uses, it consisted of a flying spot scanner on which a test pattern printed on a cellulose acetate slide was shown.{{cite web | url=https://www.cool386.com/b&k_1076/b&k1076.html | title=B&K 1076 Television Analyst }}

When CRT monitors were still commonly used on personal computers, specific test patterns were created for proper calibration of such monitors in the cases whereby multimedia images could not be shown properly on said monitors.{{cite web|url=https://underground-history.co.uk/tests/index.html |title=Monitor Settings Test |publisher=Underground History |date=2003-05-16 |access-date=2022-08-09}} Some VCD and DVD lens cleaner discs, such as the [http://www.kyowasonic.com Kyowa Sonic] lens cleaning kits from 1997–2001, also included test patterns as well.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrLBrz_7dVA&list=PLzhFkX1U-Ec3rS6goiN17_zbffA4t4Ejp |title=Lens Cleaner VCD |publisher=YouTube |date=2021-02-27 |access-date=2022-08-09}}

More recent examples include the THX Optimizer which can be accessed in the setup menu in almost every THX-certified DVD,{{cite web|url=https://www.whathifi.com/us/news/how-to-set-your-tv-thx-optimizer-disc |title=How to set-up your TV with the THX Optimizer disc | What Hi-Fi? |publisher=Whathifi.com |date= 19 September 2009|access-date=2022-08-09}}{{cite web|url=https://www.avforums.com/threads/thx-optimizer.1726639/ |title=THX Optimizer. |publisher=AVForums |date= 7 January 2013|access-date=2022-08-09}} as well as well as the "HDR sRGB Graphics Test (400 nits)" and "Test Patterns" series available on Netflix{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/weird-things-netflix-shows_l_5d092d18e4b0e560b70a3eae |title=The 10 Weirdest Things Hiding On Netflix | HuffPost Life |publisher=Huffpost.com |date= 19 June 2019|access-date=2022-08-09}} meant to test out streaming bandwidth on Internet-enabled devices,{{cite web |url=https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/netflix-test-patterns.3818828/ |title=Netflix Test Patterns |website=forum.xda-developers.com|date=20 July 2018 }} {{User-generated source|date=August 2022}} especially on widescreen smart HDR TVs, 4K and 8K displays and also used to sync audio and video feeds, which can be affected, among other factors, by Bluetooth and Internet latency.{{cite web |url=https://www.avsforum.com/threads/netflix-is-offering-test-patterns-to-configure-your-hdr-display.2714953/ |title=NETFLIX is offering Test Patterns to configure your HDR display! |website=avsforum.com|date=6 August 2023 }} {{User-generated source|date=August 2022}}

Test patterns are also used to calibrate CCTV cameras and monitors,{{Cite web |last= |date=2019-01-29 |title=A history of CCTV test charts! |url=https://cctvbuyersguide.com/2019/01/a-history-of-cctv-test-charts/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=CCTV Buyers Guide and News |language=en-US}} as well as medical imaging displays and equipment for telemedicine and diagnostic purposes,{{cite web | url=https://www.medicalphotography.com.au/Article_01/08.html | title=Reflected Ultraviolet Photography - Films & processing }} such as the SMPTE RP-133 medical diagnostic imaging test pattern specification for medical and surgical displays, created around 1983{{cite web |url=https://www.dclunie.com/images/smpte.512.512.8.gif |title=IMAGE: SMTPE test pattern |publisher=Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) |via=David Clunie's Medical Image Format Site}}–86;{{cite web | url=https://members.smpte.org/store/product/smpte-rp-1331991-specifications-medical-diagnostic-imaging-test-pattern-television | title=SMPTE RP-133:1991 Specifications for Medical Diagnostic Imaging Test Pattern for Television Monitors | SMPTE }}{{cite journal | url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7229162 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615131233/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7229162/ | archive-date=June 15, 2018 | doi=10.5594/J02540 | title=Acceptance and Use of the SMPTE Medical Diagnostic Imaging Test Pattern for Television Monitors and Hard-Copy Recording Cameras | year=1990 | last1=Gray | first1=J. E. | last2=Lisk | first2=K. G. | last3=Anderson | first3=W. | last4=Harshbarger | first4=J. H. | last5=Schwenker | first5=R. | last6=Uzenoff | first6=R. A. | journal=SMPTE Journal | volume=99 | issue=12 | pages=1001–1007 | url-access=subscription }} as well as a later derivative called the TG18-QC test pattern created by the AAPM in 2001.{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234134075 |doi=10.1007/s10278-013-9571-1 |via=ResearchGate|title=Breast Screen New South Wales Generally Demonstrates Good Radiologic Viewing Conditions |year=2013 |last1=Soh |first1=Baolin Pauline |last2=Lee |first2=Warwick |last3=Diffey |first3=Jennifer L. |last4=McEntee |first4=Mark F. |last5=Kench |first5=Peter L. |last6=Reed |first6=Warren M. |last7=Brennan |first7=Patrick C. |journal=Journal of Digital Imaging |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=759–767 |pmid=23319112 |pmc=3705022 }}{{cite journal | doi=10.1120/jacmp.v17i4.6220 | title=Imaging acquisition display performance: An evaluation and discussion of performance metrics and procedures | year=2016 | last1=Silosky | first1=Michael S. | last2=Marsh | first2=Rebecca M. | last3=Scherzinger | first3=Ann L. | journal=Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics | volume=17 | issue=4 | pages=334–341 | pmid=27455501 | pmc=5690030 }} Test patterns to calibrate X-ray machines, in particular those manufactured by Leeds Test Objects in England, also exist as well.{{cite web | url=https://www.leedstestobjects.com/index.php/phantom/resolution-test-patterns/ | title=Resolution Test Patterns }}{{cite journal | doi=10.1590/S0100-39842009000600012 | title=Efeito da filtração adicional nas doses de radiação e na qualidade das imagens nos exames videofluoroscópicos | year=2009 | last1=Costa | first1=Milton Melciades Barbosa | last2=Nova | first2=João Luiz Leocadio da | last3=Canevaro | first3=Lucía Viviana | journal=Radiologia Brasileira | volume=42 | issue=6 | pages=379–387 | doi-access=free }}

Television has had such an impact in today's life that it has been the main motif for numerous collectors' coins and medals. One of the most recent examples is The 50 Years of Television commemorative coin minted on 9 March 2005, in Austria. The obverse of the coin shows the centre portion of the Telefunken T05 test card, while the reverse shows several milestones in the history of television.{{Cite web |date=2010-09-24 |title=Austrian Mint - Bimetal Coins |url=http://austrian-mint.at/bimetallmuenzen?l=en&muenzeSubTypeId=113&muenzeId=218 |access-date=2022-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924094412/http://austrian-mint.at/bimetallmuenzen?l=en&muenzeSubTypeId=113&muenzeId=218 |archive-date=2010-09-24 }}

The Philips Pattern and SMPTE color bars are widely recognised as one of the iconic popular culture symbols of the 1980s and 1990s in the markets where they were used. Numerous novelty and collectible items has been patterned after the famous test card, including wall clocks, bedsheets, wristwatches, and clothing. The character Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory wore tees with both patterns and a blogger identified the SMPTE shirt's use in more than a dozen episodes over the life of the series.{{cite web |title=Sheldon Coopers 'Color Bars' Shirt |url=https://www.sheldoncoopersshirts.com/2017/02/sheldon-coopers-color-bars-shirt.html |website=Sheldon Cooper's Shirts |access-date=2 December 2024}}

The BBC Test Card F features throughout 2006-07 TV sci-fi detective series Life on Mars.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/lifeonmars/backstage/questions_plot.shtml|title=Life on Mars questions|work=BBC Drama|access-date=24 July 2020}}{{cite news|title=Did you spot the clues?|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/content/show-features/life-on-mars/did-you-spot-the-clues/|first=Nick|last=Griffiths|publisher=The Radio Times|date=1 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121124741/http://www.radiotimes.com/content/show-features/life-on-mars/did-you-spot-the-clues/|archive-date=21 November 2008}}

In Britain, music rather than radio sound was usually played with the test card. The music played by the BBC, and afterwards ITV, was library music, which was licensed on more favourable terms for frequent use than commercially available alternatives. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01061hr Into the Music Library], BBC Radio documentary, presenter Jonny Trunk, producer Simon Hollis, Brook Lapping Productions, April 2011 Later, Channel 4 used UK library LPs from publishers like KPM, Joseph Weinberger and Ready Music.{{cite web|url=https://www.chandos.net/chanimages/Booklets/FBCD2000.pdf|title=Currie, Tony. 'The Girl, The Doll, The Music' (1998), essay included as the notes for Test Card Classics, Chandos CD FBCD 2000}}

Until September 1955, the BBC used live playing 78 RPM commercial records as an audio background to the test cards. After that date, they switched to using recorded music on tape.[https://rssconsultancy.co.uk/articleTCM.pdf Roberts, Neville. A History of Test Card Music] The following year, the BBC began to build up its own library of specially produced music for the half hour tapes – initially three tunes in similar style, followed by an identification sign (the three notes B-B-C played on celesta). ITV (which began its first trade transmissions in 1957) continued to use commercially available recordings until the late 1960s, when it also began to make specially produced tapes.

For rights reasons, much of the music was recorded by light music orchestras in France and Germany, though sometimes by British musicians, or top international session players using pseudonyms, such as The Oscar Brandenburg Orchestra (an amalgamation of Neil Richardson, Alan Moorhouse and Johnny Pearson) or the Stuttgart Studio Orchestra.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bJRJBHUbJE|title=Royal Daffodil - Gordon Langford - Stuttgart Studio Orchestra/Ralph Elman - CBL 024|date=25 November 2018 |via=www.youtube.com}} Other composers and bandleaders commissioned for this type of work included Gordon Langford, Ernest Tomlinson. Roger Roger, Heinz Kiessling, Werner Tautz, Frank Chacksfield and Syd Dale.Lomax, Oliver: The Mood Modern: The story of two of the world's greatest recorded music libraries: KPM (1956-1977) and Bruton Music (1978-1980), Vocalion (2018)

During the 1980s, the test card was seen less and less - it was pushed out first by Teletext pages and then by extended programme hours. The same tapes were used to accompany both the test card and Ceefax on BBC channels, but some fans argue that new tapes introduced after Ceefax became the norm in 1983 were less musically interesting.

File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F007447-0011, Nürnberg, Firma Grundig.jpg factory in Nuremberg, West Germany (December 1959)]]

File:Illuminated test pattern at the Early Television Museum June 2022.jpg in Hilliard, Ohio (June 2022)]]

• BBC Tuning Signals and Test Cards A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, W, X (1934–2006, Mechanical 30- and 240-lines, Monochrome, PAL, SDTV, HDTV, 405- and 625-lines)
• RCA Victor monochrome test pattern (with RCA logos and Nipper the dog illustrations at corners; c. 1933/34{{cite web | url=https://framemaster.tripod.com/oldindex.html | title=The Early History of Television Through Visual Images! }}{{cite web | url=https://eyesofageneration.com/rcas-first-iconoscope-cameras-the-prototype/ | title=RCA'S FIRST ICONOSCOPE CAMERAS & THE PROTOTYPE | date=11 June 2021 }}–1937,{{cite web | url=https://www.earlytelevision.org/rca_field_trls.html | title=RCA's Television Field Trials }} 343-lines)
• RCA/NBC monochrome test patterns #1 and #2 (1938{{cite web | url=http://www.tvhistory.tv/1938-July-ELECTRONICS-Test-Pattern.JPG | title=RCA / NBC test pattern #1 - Newly established 441-line system (up from the 343-lines of 1936) }}–39,{{cite web | url=https://davidsarnoff.tcnj.edu/2017/06/02/item-of-the-week-indian-head-test-card/ | title=Item of the Week: Indian-Head Test Card |website=The College of New Jersey}}{{cite web | url=http://www.tvhistory.tv/1938-RCA-Test-Pattern.jpg | title=1938 December - RCA / NBC Test Pattern #2 }} 441-lines)
• RCA Indian-head test pattern (1939, 525-lines)
• ABC/CBS/Crosley-Avco/DuMont/NBC monochrome "bullseye" test patterns (c. 1939–47,{{cite web|url=http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/around_world.html|title=Television Graphics Around the World|website=www.meldrum.co.uk}} 525-lines){{cite web|url=http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=252977 |title=Test pattern? - Videokarma.org TV - Video - Vintage Television & Radio Forums |publisher=Videokarma.org |date= |access-date=2022-07-24}}
• RMA 1946 resolution chart (1946, 525- and 625-lines)
• Marconi Resolution Chart No. 1{{Cite web | url=http://marconiintelevision.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/84534910/Test%20Charts%20-%201962.pdf | title=Test Charts | website=marconiintelevision.pbworks.com}}{{cite web | url=https://www.polyu.edu.hk/proj/gef/index.php/glossary/marconi-resolution-chart/ | title=Marconi Resolution Chart – Geospatial Education Platform | date=17 January 2016 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.oocities.org/wenlockb/icdx/pye_factory_tv.html | title=Pye factory test broadcasts }}{{Cite web | url=https://www.izabella.tk/html/video_.html | title=Video Basics | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003100624/https://www.izabella.tk/html/video_.html | archive-date=2023-10-03}}/English Electric Valve Company Test Chart{{Cite journal |date=1970 |title=EEV Test Chart for CCTV Cameras |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-AUSTRALIA/IDX/Archive-Electronics-Australia-IDX/IDX/70s/Electronics-Australia-1970-12-OCR-Page-0057.pdf |journal=Electronics Australia |issue=12 |page=57}} (c. 1947/c. 1970, 525- and 625-lines)
• ТИТ-0249, ИТ-72{{cite web|url=https://engenegr.ru/gost-20466-75|title=ГОСТ 20466-75 - Таблица телевизионная испытательная универсальная ИТ-72. Диапозитивы. Общие технические условия|website=engenegr.ru}} and таблица 0286{{cite web|url=https://allgosts.ru/33/160/gost_28459-90|title=ГОСТ 28459-90 Таблица телевизионная испытательная универсальная 0286. Общие технические требования|website=allgosts.ru}} monochrome test cards (1949, c. 1975–78, c. 1990–92, used in Soviet Union and Russia)
• DuMont Industrial Color Television test pattern (1950, experimentally shown on KE2XDR){{cite web | url=https://www.earlytelevision.org/dumont_industrial_color.html | title=DuMont Industrial Color System }}
• DFF (Deutscher Fernsehfunk) monochrome (Q1/QI1,{{Cite web |title=DDR Fernsehen Normenumstellung von OIRT auf CCIR |url=https://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/ddr_fernsehen_normenumstellung_von_oirt_auf_ccir.html |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=www.radiomuseum.org}} Test nr. 04, modified EBU monochrome) and colour (modified HTV TR.0782) test patterns (1952–1991, SECAM, used in East Germany){{cite web|url=http://www.jeromeglick.net/img/tv/test-cards/dff-tp-elec.jpg|title=DFF Electronic Test Pattern}}{{cite web|url=http://www.jeromeglick.net/img/tv/test-cards/dff-tp-mono.jpg|title=DFF Monochrome Test Pattern}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.jeromeglick.net/img/tv/test-cards/dff-tp-color.jpg|title=DFF Color Test Pattern}}
• Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française "Marly Horses" test card (1953, 819-lines)
• ТИТ-0154 colour test card (1954, abandoned prototype Soviet Union NIIR/SECAM IV system)
• ITA/GPO/Belling & Lee G9AED Pilot Test Transmission test cards (1955–56, 405-lines){{cite web | url=https://transdiffusion.org/2015/09/22/i-found-my-thrill-on-beulah-hill/ | title=I found my thrill on Beulah Hill }}
• Associated-Rediffusion–Marconi "diamond" monochrome test card versions 1, 2 and 3{{cite web |url=https://www.transdiffusion.org/2015/11/30/forward-march|title=Forward March|first=Kif|last=Bowden-Smith |website=Transdiffusion}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ambisonic.net/arundercover.html |title=UK Broadcasting History|website=www.ambisonic.net}}{{cite web |last=Glick |first=Jerome |title=Television & Video - Test Cards & Signals |url=http://www.jeromeglick.net/tv/test-cards.html}} (1955–1958, 625-lines; Version 1 also used by RTV in British Hong Kong, TVM in Crown Colony of Malta and WNTV in the western part of Colonial Nigeria{{Cite book |title=Test Charts |publisher=Marconi |year=1960 |page=60 |url=http://marconiintelevision.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/84534898/Test%20Charts%20-%201960.pdf}})
• EIA 1956 resolution chart (1956, 525- and 625-lines)
• Chequerboard optical{{Cite web |title=broadcast, television, test pattern, Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (Northwest German Broadcasting, NWDR), circa 1952 Stock Photo - Alamy |url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-broadcast-television-test-pattern-nordwestdeutscher-rundfunk-northwest-24440833.html |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=www.alamy.com |language=en}} and electronic "tea towel"{{cite web | url=https://radio-tv-nederland.nl/historie/testbeeld/testbeeld.html | title=Testbeelden van de Nederlandse Televisie }} test cards (1950s/60s, monochrome, 625-lines, used in varying forms in West Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Soviet Union, Portugal and Spain)
• SMPTE optical monochrome test card (1950s?, 525-lines; 1962–1964,{{cite web|title=BBC Tuning Signals |url=http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/bbc_tune.html |date=29 March 2000 |publisher=Meldrum |access-date=14 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223154155/http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/bbc_tune.html |archive-date=23 February 2009 }} 625-lines){{cite web|url=https://stillslibrary.rte.ie/indexplus/image/2413/044.html|title=Photographic Archive|date=July 5, 2012|website=RTÉ Archives}}
• Philips PM 5522, 5534,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14q5RilUvO0|title=Philips PM 5534 Pal colour pattern generator.|date=6 April 2020 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_anderson/16836245641/|title=Sweden|date=March 16, 2015|via=Flickr}} PM 5538, PM 5540,{{cite web |title=Philips TV-Measuring Equipment, 1980 |url=https://tubedata.altanatubes.com.br/other/sos/Philips_TV-MeasuringEquipment_1980.pdf}} PM 5543, PM 5544, PM 5552,{{cite web|url=http://www.jeromeglick.net/img/tv/test-cards/philips/pm5552.jpg|title=Philips PM5552 Test Pattern}} PM 5634, PM 5644 (1960s, 525- and 625-lines, PAL, PALplus, SECAM, NTSC), see Philips circle pattern
• Telefunken T 05 (early-1960s, 625-lines)
• EBU electronic monochrome test pattern (1960s?, 625-lines)
• CBS/NBC color "bullseye" test patterns (c. 1964/65–early-1990s, NTSC){{cite web |url=http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=252977&page=4 |title=Test pattern? - Page 4 - Videokarma.org TV - Video - Vintage Television & Radio Forums |publisher=Videokarma.org |date=2021-11-17 |access-date=2022-07-24}}
• Telefunken FuBK (late-1960s, PAL)
• UEIT - Universal Electronic Test Chart (1970, SECAM)
• HTV TR.0782 test card (1970s, SECAM, used in Hungary, Poland, East Germany and Romania){{cite web|url=http://ing-sat.what.hu/hun-monoszkop.htm|title=Hungarian ETC's|website=ing-sat.what.hu}}
• EZO test card (1971, PAL, used in Czechoslovakia and Estonian SSR{{cite web | url=https://ing-sat.hu/tv-dx-amateurs/podani.htm | title=Podani György }}){{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_anderson/16451478929/|title=Czechoslovakia|date=August 11, 2012|via=Flickr}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8-2h4UQYXk|title=CST EZO TEST PATTERN|date=8 March 2009 |via=www.youtube.com}}
• BNT electronic test card (1972, SECAM, used in Bulgaria)
• TVE colour test card (1975, PAL)
• SMPTE color bars (1977, NTSC, HDTV, SDTV)
• EBU colour bars
• Electronic Test Pattern 1 (1979, PAL)
• Grundig VG 1001 (1980, PAL)
• Toolcraft-Goodwood colour test card (c. 1980s–2000s?, PAL, used on various Australian commercial TV stations){{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-j1LOdiUuY | title=MTN9 Griffith sign-off 1986 | website=YouTube | date=23 March 2009 }}
• KCTV colour test cards (1970s?, mid-1990s, 2017, SECAM then PAL, used in North Korea){{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/138429075@N08/23825585754/|title=KCTV screencap|date=January 17, 2016|via=Flickr}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB3LY0y-Row|title=DPRK TV - Test Card|date=18 March 2010 |via=www.youtube.com}}
• Snell & Wilcox SW2 (1990s, TPG20/21 Test Pattern Generators) and SW4 "Zone Plate" (2000s, NTSC, PAL, SDTV){{Cite book |url=https://wwwapps.grassvalley.com/docs/Manuals/sam/conversion_restoration/Supervisor_Operation.pdf |title=SuperVisor Multi-Standard Display Processor Manual |publisher=Snell & Wilcox |year=2001}}{{cite web |title=The Snell & Wilcox Test Chart #2 What is it? |url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/26361361/the-snell-wilcox-test-chart-2-what-is-it-the-snell-wilcox-2-is-}}
• GY/T 254-2011 test card (2011, HDTV, DTMB, used in Mainland China){{cite web |date= |title=GY/T 254-2011 高清晰度电视测试图-标准网 |url=https://www.cstandard.com/guangbodianyingdianshixingyebiaozhun/24932.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925081722/https://www.cstandard.com/guangbodianyingdianshixingyebiaozhun/24932.html |archive-date=2022-09-25 |access-date=2022-08-09 |publisher=Cstandard.com}}

{{Portal|Television}}

• Blue only mode
• China Girl (filmmaking)
• Colour chart
• List of BBC test cards
• Test Card F
• Webdriver Torso, YouTube account used for automated performance testing

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Television test patterns}}

• [http://www.testcardcircle.org.uk The Test Card Circle], a UK fan site: 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.
• [http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/ The Test Card Gallery]
• [https://nostalgia-tv.fi/tv-ajankuvat/tayteohjelmat/testikuva/ Nostalgia-TV: Television testikuva] – test cards in Finland, in Finnish language only

{{Standard test item}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Broadcast engineering