The TCD

Resource

This page contains Test Card Definition files for use with FML Test Card Maker. The images shown are thumbnails created initially using TCM v3.20 or later, then converted to JPG format using MS Photo Editor or the new "save as JPG" feature on TCM v5.00 .

Where a test card requires any image files to be included, these are bundled with the TCD file into a ZIP (note that you must extract the files from the ZIP before using them, or the image file will not be found by the program). Click on the image to download the TCD or ZIP file. (If this brings up a page of text, then come 'Back' to here, right-click the image instead, and choose 'Save Target As', or alternatively, when the page of text comes up, click 'File' and then 'Save As' or your browser's equivalent thereof.)

Due to the size of the TCD Resource, it is now split into five separate pages:

Other European Test Cards

Test Cards from the Rest of the World

Other Standard Test Cards

Original Designs / What-Ifs

BBC  
BBC Test Card 'A' Re-creation of Test Card 'A'. Apparently Test Card 'A' has a 4:3 aspect ratio, even though the BBC broadcast in 5:4 until around 1948, and even though changing the aspect ratio of the card would make the border castellations perfectly square!

Added 30/08/2004

BBC Test Card 'B' (Reconstruction) Reconstruction of Test Card B based on the only surviving photo (which only shows the upper-right half of it!) Note that the aspect ratio is 5:4. This might be wrong; even though the BBC broadcast in 5:4 until around 1948, the earlier Test Card A had a 4:3 ratio.
5:4 Test Card 'C' Re-creation of a version of Test Card C with 5:4 aspect ratio. Both the BBC and ITA (later IBA) used test cards C, D and F. | Based on info & pic here

Added 10/01/2004 | Info link & image text corrected 17/01/2004

Test Card 'E' Re-creation of Test Card E, which was only shown for about 10 minutes in 1964 :-) although other countries used it for longer, for example the Republic of Ireland (with a Placard Condensed-ish "TELEFIS EIREANN") and Portugal (with a simple Cooper Bold "R T P"). | Two more accurate histories [1] [2]

Added 10/11/2002 | Info updated 08/06/2004

Test Card 'F' (Slide version) Perhaps the most famous test card in the world - Test Card F. This version is based on the slide which you can see here. The thin line around the greyscale conforms to the appearance of TCF on that page.

Added 30/08/2004 -- Submitted by Andrew Carter

BBC2 Electronic 1997 A pattern used by the BBC during a rebroadcast test in 1997, and also used by Turkish station Show Radyo. | The misalignment of the colourbars and colour blocks is deliberate - look at this (about 2/3 of the way down the linked page)

Added 23/02/2002 / Updated 09/02/2003 -- Submitted by Kirk Northrop

Test Card 'J' Re-creation of Test Card J. | Requires V4.00+

Added 10/11/2002

BBC Schools Pie Chart The BBC Schools Pie Chart, shown between schools programmes in the 1960s and early '70s.

Added 18/07/2005

BBC/ITCA Test Card No.60 BBC/ITCA Test Card No.60 (ITCA being the Independent Television Companies Association). I suspect this was only used for internal line-up and never broadcast.

Added 18/07/2005

IBA/ITA/etc  
ITA Pilot Test Transmission Re-creation of the ITA's Pilot Test Transmission. Neat use of transparent bitmap to create the wavy line effect. | Requires V5.10+

Added 19/03/2005 -- Submitted by Andrew Carter

Early ITA Tuning Signal Re-creation of an early ITA Tuning Signal, used until 1959, when it was replaced by the "Picasso" shown below.

Added 01/09/2003

Picasso Tuning Signal A version of the "Picasso" Tuning Signal used by the ITA in the 1960s. (This uses the Playbill and Placard Condensed fonts - ideally it would use Venus in place of Placard)

Added 12/01/2003 (Whoops, the link didn't work - corrected 26/04/2003)

A-R Diamond A neat re-creation of one of Associated-Rediffusion's "diamond" cards used in the 1950s and 1960s. (On the original, the blank grey sloping boxes contained the words "ASSOCIATED REDIFFUSION MONDAY-FRIDAY" - see this) | Requires V5.10+

Added 22/05/2004 -- Submitted by Andrew Carter

Westward Test Card 'D' We missed out test card D in the BBC section, so here is an ITA version instead.

Added 19/03/2005 -- Submitted by Andrew Carter

ITV Schools Lightspots What the Lightspots object was created for! - The ITV Lightspots interval, as shown between schools programmes in the early to mid 1970s.

Added 18/07/2005

IBA ETP1 (Channel 4) Re-creation of the IBA's Electronic Test Pattern 1 (Channel 4 version shown here). | Requires V5.10+ for transparent bitmap drawing - otherwise amend the bitmaps to have the right shade of blue background

Added 07/06/2003 | Updated 30/08/2004 - ZIP file now also includes captions for 'IBA:S4C' without lines and plain 'IBA'

IBA ETP1 prototype Re-creation of the prototype version of ETP1. Basically the same, but with only five frequency gratings instead of six, using a different set of frequencies (0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 MHz). The final version uses the same frequencies as Test Card F. For those who don't remember it, the "IBA" caption really was as chunky and jagged as the one included here. | Requires V5.10+ for transparent bitmap drawing (as per ETP1 above)

Added 30/08/2004 -- Submitted by Billy Hicks

Uplink Card V1 Probably never seen on UK TV screens, but this has been used internally by the IBA according to a picture I saw on some website or other (this will be a link when I can find the site.) | Requires V4.10+

Added 10/01/2004

Uplink Card V2 A fancier version featuring 16-9 compatibility and also featuring the Sweep object (new for version 5.00). | Requires V5.00+

Added 10/01/2004

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