As a now retired TV Engineer that started work in the 1960's I have a framed TEST CARD F hanging in my hall just for the memories.
@Crytkee Жыл бұрын
lol
@infinitemultipliers8 ай бұрын
So cool!
@MrCoreyTys24 күн бұрын
oh wow! how was the job then?
@jas20per23 күн бұрын
@@MrCoreyTys The job was like all types of employment dome good days and then again bad. Though on the whole it was a sort of privileged occupation because on the whole people where glad to see you may be that was because I worked for one of the largest TV rental companies and people did not have to pay for the repairs. For a young man back then a free company van you could use privately and as time went on estate cars became the norm. To sum it up Young single man Living in Liverpool in the 1960s with a free car a good wage for the time life back then was good. Though like all good things it does not last though living through all that music and Liverpool clubs such as the Cavern the Iron Door and the Blue Angel to name but a few gave me a lot of good memories now looking back.
@shadowthehedgehog37022 күн бұрын
@@jas20per I don’t mean to sound rude but how old are you?
@richardhalliday64692 жыл бұрын
As a retired TV engineer I thoroughly enjoyed this video - brilliant.
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you Richard! Hope it brought back some happy memories! 😊
@wavebroadcastingllc1872 жыл бұрын
**test card f***
@stevekitt522 жыл бұрын
As a former TV engineer, I spent many an hour with Test Card F. Carol and her clown were a very useful assistant.
@philipmcdonagh10942 жыл бұрын
They are still used today, even on new TV's. If you want your picture just right you gotta use one. Don't mind this auto adjust gimmickry, everyone's eyes are different.
@Edward_Plantagenet2 жыл бұрын
Fun fact Carol is left handed so they actually flipped the slide round to make it seem as if she’s right handed.
@stephenmatura10862 жыл бұрын
Another fun fact is that the letter X on the board represents the exact centre of the screeen.
@SunburntHands2 жыл бұрын
@@stephenmatura1086 I had heard that too, but pausing on the different variants, the X is slightly off centre until J, onscreen at 15:07.
@discharge23312 жыл бұрын
Why would they do that ? If she was left handed she could have quite easily posed the other way round as it is a still picture and requires no physical dexterity whatsoever ?
@weirdplanet10822 жыл бұрын
Yup; sounds about right (no pun intended) discrimination against us left handed folk was more wide spread back then.
@StarWarsJay2 жыл бұрын
I don’t believe you. The X and O aren’t reversed.
@gabeangel81042 жыл бұрын
I remember as a young teenager being home alone at night after my little sister had been rushed to hospital with a dangerously high fever. I sat in front of the TV all night with this test card on to not feel so alone and anxious. Seems so strange now to look back and remember that being the only thing I had to watch on TV during the night
@toresbe2 жыл бұрын
I actually have the physical Norwegian Test Card F :) When I started at NRK R&D, I took over the offices of a retired engineer who hadn't bothered to clean out anything. And sure enough, gingerly packed inside a 4x5" slide film box, there it was.
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
What an ace piece of TV history to hold on to! 😁
@toresbe2 жыл бұрын
@@AdamMartyn Right? I was actually quite surprised - the iconic Norwegian one is the Philips PM5544/PM5644, and I had no idea that Norway ever used Test Card F. They were packed in with other "memorabilia" from the earliest colour TV tests in Norway. We were very late to that party - first colour test transmissions began in 1972. Studio 1 was monochrome until 1985! (In fairness, very often used as a sound stage for film.) Actually until the laws were revised for digital terrestrial around the turn of the century, the terms of the license were still "experimental colour broadcasts". :)
@thorbjrnhellehaven57662 жыл бұрын
Growing up in the 80's, I only remember seeing testcard G by NRK (as well as DR and SVT). Then with satellite TV, I remember other broadcasters having different testcards, mostly just bars, or sometkmes other patterns.
@j0hnf_uk2 жыл бұрын
To say I'm envious is an understatement. One of my TV fantasies was to befriend a TV engineer who worked behind the scenes, and be invited to a TV broadcasters, 'back rooms', where, having expressed a great interest in the works involved, but given some kind of memento in the shape of an actual test card, or even one of their old electronic test card, 'black boxes', (preferably a Philips PM5544), that they were going to throw out, anyway. Pure fantasy, of course. But reading your story reignited my memory of thinking it.
@esecallum2 жыл бұрын
get it valued. could be worth millions !!!!!!!!!!
@welshlad64272 жыл бұрын
Never thought I’d spend 20 odd minutes of life watching a program about the test card. All the times I’d want to turn the TV off once the channel closed down or I woke up on the couch. Brilliant and informative 👏👏
@pauldoree39672 жыл бұрын
I believe there is actually a test card appreciation society
@Trev3592 жыл бұрын
programme*.
@brucedanton3669 Жыл бұрын
@@pauldoree3967 Yes there is indeed so too. The Test Card Circle, of which I have been a member since 1996. It has its own magazine four times a year too, which is really great too. It also has a convention once a year in April which is open to members too.
@G6JPG2 ай бұрын
@@brucedanton3669 I believe they were responsible for the appearance of the CD of the music, much of which was of very high quality. (And yes, it does have a few seconds of tone, too …)
@thefrecklepuny2 жыл бұрын
My older sister was terrified of that test card. Turns out she was not the only one. Still freaks her out decades later!
@hazelevans8722 жыл бұрын
Same here I run away as a kid every time test card was on it was the clown and high pich tone I hated. I love test card music I've got records and cds. . But now asked my boys for the plush toy of bubbles the clown 😂😂 👍
@KarlHamilton2 жыл бұрын
Same!!! The clown is still scary as hell.
@rachelc14922 жыл бұрын
Yeah it's definitely the clown that's freaky. I could never figure out why it was so shiny and its body was weird.
@billfranks68052 жыл бұрын
I was born in 1966 and was always asking my mum in early 70s who won the game funny never did get an answer??!
@danic93042 жыл бұрын
It's super creepy and always was
@darkcornersuk2 жыл бұрын
I remember waking up early during the 80s as a kid and just sitting and watching test card f... I remember that high pitch hum putting me in to an almost hypnotic state..
@joshuaaaron1252 жыл бұрын
Pure nightmare fuel as a kid 😂 It’s 1996, I sneak down stairs at 5am to watch come cartoons on our new spangle Sky box. I flick the tv on to be greeted by Carol Hersee and her clown along with eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat full volume. I never messed about with the tv after that 😂
@paulkeith96802 жыл бұрын
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@AidanMillward2 жыл бұрын
You and me both. Every time I turned the tv on after that I’d mash the buttons on the remote to get into the next channel.
@perishingtardis2 жыл бұрын
Exactly the same for me. As a toddler in the mid 90s, I remember a couple of times coming downstairs too early on a Sunday morning, turning on the TV by myself in the dark, and being met with the test card, and the awful test tone just made it even eerier.
@joshuaaaron1252 жыл бұрын
@@perishingtardis always when we tried to sneak a crafty hour of cartoons In 😂
@bigbark4627 Жыл бұрын
Always the "full volume"!! 🤣 😖
@fanbladeinstruments2 жыл бұрын
Growing up in New Zealand in the early 80's I never saw Test Card F, so I was watching this with an interested detatchment, but when Test Card G appeared I felt 40 years drop away and there I was, 6 years old and waiting for the sunday morning cartoons to start. Wow.
@Alola_Hanna-Barbera_TMS_Fan2 жыл бұрын
Test Card F is one of the best ever. That little girl and her clown doll Bubbles were so iconic, BBC2 and other commercials caught notice and made their own versions of it.
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
That they did! But no others were arguably ever as iconic as the original! 😁
@Alola_Hanna-Barbera_TMS_Fan2 жыл бұрын
@@AdamMartyn For sure. The original Test Card F just cannot be topped
@stevefaul17102 жыл бұрын
Nice video. We don't use it on the air, of course, but Card F is seen in our master control at WLIO Lima, Ohio as part of the screen saver on a computer.
@jamesm902 жыл бұрын
Still used within the BBC well the 1080 version.
@mat20001002 жыл бұрын
Was it used on the air back in the day?
@G6JPG2 ай бұрын
@@mat2000100 Didn't you watch the video? Yes, it was - Carole has clocked up a record that will never be broken for number of screen hours.
@richardmattocks2 жыл бұрын
Brilliant as always. Fun fact about F that I don’t think was mentioned is that the “X” in the game of noughts and crosses is the exact centre of the image 😎. Another bit of design genius from Mr Hersee.
@michaeldavison97612 жыл бұрын
Basically correct. The noughts and crosses was to show static convergence errors but the 'X' was not centralised until TC 'J' came along.
@jamesdean87852 жыл бұрын
Grea factage Rich
@fdfsdfsvsfgsg48882 жыл бұрын
It just isn't though. Anyone can see that.
@Dr.Thirteen2 жыл бұрын
@@fdfsdfsvsfgsg4888 I just took a measuring tape @ 19:18 and measured it's not it's 6"from the x down 9" from the x up and 9 1/2" side to side
@SusanAmberBruce2 жыл бұрын
@@michaeldavison9761 Yeah that's right
@nriab232 жыл бұрын
why does this make me cry? I used to watch this on late sleepless nights in the early to mid 00s in my grandmother's house as I kept the tv on throughout the night to help my fear of sleeping in a Bungalow house (people walking outside) The noise of the testcard amongst 24 hour news was comforting.
@richardhunter73632 жыл бұрын
As a child I was given a kit to make one of the clowns used in the Testcard. Being fairly young, it certainly didn't look like the one on screen. lol
@remaincalm22 жыл бұрын
Having more TV screen time than anyone else in world history is an incredible claim to fame, and it's highly unlikely that anyone will ever beat her. Bubbles was the scariest toy I'd ever seen when I was a child. Thanks to Adam, I at last know the name of my early morning childhood tormenter! ;-)
@G6JPG2 ай бұрын
Yes, I don't think that record will ever be beaten, since test cards aren't transmitted much these days. Somewhat similar to Nana Mouskouri's sales of _physical_ records (78/LP/single/cassette/CD) clocked up over about 65 years, since few purchases of physical records take place these days.
@sundaygirl42992 жыл бұрын
Test card F has always fascinated me yet it still unnerves me whenever I look at it. When I was little it used to TERRIFY me, to the point at which it became my biggest fear 😭 I was born in 2000 and I remember seeing it still in use. I used to avoid watching TV at night in case it came on 🥴
@kaitlyn__L2 жыл бұрын
It’s very interesting to me that you still saw it! I’m a few years older than you but I only ever remember seeing “Pages From Ceefax” at night; my first exposure to Test Card F was actually in _Life on Mars._
@sundaygirl42992 жыл бұрын
@@kaitlyn__L they used to occasionally show it on the now defunct channel BBC HD circa 2008/2009 - that’s when I remember seeing it!
@kaitlyn__L2 жыл бұрын
@@sundaygirl4299 ahh, that explains it - I never had access to BBC HD, as my family never had satellite, and even convincing for a Freeview box in 2007 was a lot of effort! Perhaps what you saw was Test Card W, then? :)
@timpearce33142 жыл бұрын
I was a T.V. engineer in the 70,s and was surrounded by t.v,s in my workshop with this testcard, brilliant peice of artwork and of course all the info that us "repairmen" needed ,we could even "converge the R.G.B. to a degree without using cross hatch generators!.. one true story that I like to tell ,is when "ceefax" came to the BBC, you would have pages and pages of information from the news,weather and even a"todays recipe" page and with all sorts of music for added entertainment, on this particular morning, I had ceefax running on a test t.v. and "todays recipe" came up, the recipe was for "lamb hotpot" I laughed so hard when I realised that the music they chose to play for the page was a version of "sheep may safely graze" by mendelson!!! a true story from the late 70,s that I still smile at today,...🤩
@PatrickSwayzeOnDbol2 жыл бұрын
Bamboozle was always fun to play.
@skylined55342 жыл бұрын
"They may safely graze... BUT NOT TODAY!"
@glpilpi62092 жыл бұрын
Yes the noughts and crosses were ideal for convergence checks . Colour sets back then didn't travel well with the older delta tubes . The manufacturer's advised that new TV's were set up in the customer's homes , so we always had a pattern generator and degaussing coil on the van. But you could at a pinch do most of it and get reasonable results with test card F.
@joannedixon-jackson73482 жыл бұрын
Sheep May Safely Graze is by J S Bach if I’m not mistaken.
@timpearce33142 жыл бұрын
@@joannedixon-jackson7348 whoops, your right of course..🙄lol....
@goosegog2 жыл бұрын
I knew the photographer who took the photo of Carol Hersee for the test card. The late David Jones, who worked at the BBC and drank at my local pub in Newdigate, Surrey. A jolly nice chap he was too.
@Steampunksaly2 жыл бұрын
As a child of the 60’s I remember what seemed like an eternity, sitting in front of the huge tv that had screen doors to hide it as it wasn’t an accepted piece of furniture back then, and watching this test card in black and white waiting for the ten minutes of ‘watch with mother’. It was as boring as the test card but it was all we had. They were not ‘good old days’ , It’s wonderful how technology has moved on and how much entertainment and education our young people have today at the touch of a button.
@maskedavenger25782 жыл бұрын
If you had a TV with doors on it to hide the screen ,when not in use ,you must of been very posh . Most people could only afford to rent a TV back in those days . You also had to bash the TV to steady the picture ,they were wooden boxes full of glass valves .
@skylined55342 жыл бұрын
I think the amount of stuff including easy access to 24 hour social media is the downfall of the younger generations.
@j0hnf_uk2 жыл бұрын
Despite those who would deride the presence of the test card F on our TV screens, I always felt a certain degree of comfort/affection toward it, growing up. The immortal words of the presenters saying, '... we return to a trade test transmission', with a slight pause before the card came up and the music started seemed rather homely and wholesome. In that, even when there were no programmes on, they still wanted to have their presence felt by any who continued to watch. Like welcoming an old friend into your house. The musical element added to that, with the selection of music being, (generally), easy on the ear, and complimented the test card itself, very well. Hearing any of it now instantly takes me back to a time when things were far less complicated, when you could spend a few hours chilling out, listening to anything from light orchestrations to funky jazz/electronica.
@G6JPG2 ай бұрын
There is a CD.
@j0hnf_uk2 ай бұрын
@@G6JPG There's more than one. There's many CDs available that contain the music in question.
@G6JPG2 ай бұрын
@@j0hnf_uk There's one particular one with TCF on the cover.
@j0hnf_uk2 ай бұрын
@@G6JPG That would be Flyback FBCD 2000 - Test Card Classics - The Girl, The Doll, The Music. They also did a follow-up one called FBCD 2001 - Test Card Classics 2 - Big Band Width. Then there's 10 CDs released by Apollo Sound entitled, 'From The Archives - Test Card Music', with the appropriate number.
@RandomnessTube.4 ай бұрын
That girl in the test card is forever embedded into my childhood I was born in 1983 for some reason I remember staring at it late at night.
@G6JPG2 ай бұрын
Another real quality AMTV documentary - enthusiasm, and accuracy, but no talking-down. Why can't the BBC - or any other channel! - make stuff like this these days (except perhaps where David Attenborough presents)?
@UKGeezer2 жыл бұрын
That test card was damn useful when you had a tv with basically a clothes hanger sticking out of it for an aerial. Twiddling the tuning knobs and the aerial, trying to get a good enough signal so all the lines would be nice and straight on the test card was a frustrating experience.
@zednotdead2 жыл бұрын
You're one of those channels that can make a video on something I've never even considered thinking about, like the history of British television, and make me care about it. Wonderful documentary!
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much pal! 😁 really happy that it got your interest!
@DCSMedia2 жыл бұрын
Brilliant documentary, possibly your best one. The test card girl is such a timeless image, it’s so simple, but iconic
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much! Arguable the most iconic television image out there!
@G6JPG2 ай бұрын
@@AdamMartyn Yes, as a _television_ image, it'd be hard to beat. (Some of the shots of the Adele Dixon film perhaps - I covet the "gallons per minute" meter - but Carole probably wins hands down, especially given the internationalness of it.) Actually, even among images that are _not_ specifically to do with television, it's probably pretty high - certainly up there with the Mona Lisa and the Che one, though maybe some of the ones of the late Queen might pip it, because of stamps and currency.
@NigelDixon19522 жыл бұрын
Thanks for this one Adam, you've done a great job at reminding me how old I am! I live in West Yorkshire and clearly remember our first Decca 14 inch TV arriving in around 1954. Even though I was only 2 at the time, I really do remember. At that time, we got the BBC from Holme Moss on a massive X aerial on the roof of our farmhouse. The next important event I remember is my dad's workmate calling round to ours with his long screwdriver. He was like a wizard as he stuck it into the front of our TV and twiddled it about. When I got older, I realised he was fine-tuning channel 10 to bring in ITV in time for its opening day. The new signal came from Emley Moore. I remember asking my dad's friend if we needed another aerial, and he said the picture was perfect, so the BBC one would do fine. Now, what the heck was a three year old doing, asking if we'd needed a new aerial? I have no idea, but it's true! I'm now 69, and have lived a life full of TV, radio, satellite, and electronics in general. That little black and white picture was the best thing ever, then, oh wow, colour. Now here I am watching a 55 inch TV receive programmes from a satellite some 22,300 miles in space! Who would ever have thought it back then in the 1950s?
@MrButtonpresser2 жыл бұрын
As a kid in the 60's I would watch the local (NSW, Australia) test cards waiting for the early morning cartoons to start. I now find old B&W test cards to be fascinating. : )
@1Soniccool2 жыл бұрын
I want to see this test card in 4K when the BBC starts to broadcasting in 4K
@indigohammer57322 жыл бұрын
Not many people know that Bubbles won that game of noughts and crosses.
@BobbyDazzler4402 жыл бұрын
A great overview! I think my nostalgia quota for the day has been well and truly met! I watched this visually picturing the old family TV sets I saw it on. Thank you for bringing back such warm memories.
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Always a pleasure my friend 😊
@DanaTheInsane Жыл бұрын
As an American I never saw Test card F till I saw Life on Mars. It fascinated me, I had it as my computer wallpaper for a long time.
@klisher2 жыл бұрын
I remember when they switched to J and it was a rare treat to catch F again. early to mid 90s used to hunt out F at night.
@MartinFarrell19722 жыл бұрын
I was born in 1972 so grew up with the testcard girl. It would go off air at lunchtime on BBC 2 for play school. If I remember correctly it done a countdown on the test card
@nigelsears71912 жыл бұрын
thank you , i can remember as a young apprentice tv engineer in the early 80's timing a delivery or new installation when a customer was very specific that they wanted to see and check your set up with the test card , most were just happy to get a watchable picture but we did deal with some high end customers who could be very demanding , great times happy memories , was lucky enough to meet through my work some great tv personalities my favourite had to be Tony Hart , who lived less than a mile from where i live now , he was never demanding just charming and very welcoming into his home
@TheGramophoneGirl Жыл бұрын
Very rarely remember it on BBC1 but it was up on BBC2 for hours and hours during the day! TV was grim as a kid during the summer holidays in the 1970s. BBC1 had some sport on, BBC2 was the testcard and ITV had some black & white feature film. That was it.
@RH11THM2 жыл бұрын
It was also used in That Mitchell and Webb Look as the emergency broadcast system screen introducing the post-apocalyptic 'Quiz Broadcast' comedy sketches, where the noughts and crosses game was replaced with messages such as "mummy won't wake up"
@97channel2 жыл бұрын
It was known to broadcast 24 hours a day as a hidden channel on Freeview, right up until only a few years ago. You had to go to the BBC red button service, press a complex combination of buttons, then Test Card W would appear. I tried it for myself, it really was available. But looking around, the whole system changed some time after 2014 and nobody now knows how to get it, or if it's even still provided as a hidden feature.
@lukegibson1912 жыл бұрын
I'm not sure if another comment has mentioned this, but when BBC 3 was about to return to the air, a modified version of Test Card X had been seen on several test transmissions prior to it launching. The only difference was the "HD" text being in a more standard font, without the diamond surrounding it. Was gutted to have missed these transmissions as I'd have loved to have seen the test card in the flesh. There was also a way you could see it via BBC Red Button, but having tried it recently, it unfortunately no longer works. Amazing video nonetheless, I learnt a few new things from it
@andresbravo20032 жыл бұрын
I might really enjoyed that test card F because of that Girl. Even She was older, I will never forget her because of a iconic test card in UK TV History.
@andresbravo20032 жыл бұрын
Btw, I am not a British user, I am a Venezuelan user. That’s all I can tell.
@System_Sega2 жыл бұрын
I did like the Post apocalyptic test card from The Mitchel and webb look. Also, there was a easter egg in one of the lego star wars games showing the test card in lego form.
@indie38922 жыл бұрын
As a non-brit, that's actually how I first encountered test card F! I stumbled upon some of the post-apocalyptic segments on youtube a few months ago and so that's what it's associated with in my head
@karlkammer30502 жыл бұрын
Another informative piece on how things are different "across the pond". In the US we call it a test pattern, and it was more prevalent when I was growing up. Of course before 24/7 broadcasting stations would play the national anthem at close down, and then it would just be static. Home Box Office (HBO) had a little animation of a man yawning and calling it a night when they would go off the air in the early 1980's.
@kaitlyn__L2 жыл бұрын
To be honest I find your test pattern slightly more useful in that it includes an infrablack segment, whereas these test cards seem to only go down to black. Though of course our test cards allow for alignment and convergence testing too all in one go, while your test patterns have different ones for those separate from the colour bars :)
@JonnyInfinite2 жыл бұрын
I remember watching this before the kids TV started on a Saturday. I used to swear I'd see her slightly move....
@GGYT.2 жыл бұрын
Wow, Adam has pretty much started pumping out new documentaries almost every 3rd week or every month! No words... 😄 And a fun fact: your documentaries helped me to get the best marks in English! (I needed to make an infographic - I made 20 facts about BBC)
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
I feel if I can get at least one out a month then I'm happy with that 💪 also glad to hear the videos helped you! May they continue to! 😊
@isabellaangeline21752 жыл бұрын
That’s honestly great! I’m extremely proud of you.
@gaius_enceladus2 жыл бұрын
New Zealander here - I remember "Test Card F" well! I'm sure we had exactly the same version as the UK!
@stevedickson58532 жыл бұрын
When I was a youngster back in the 70s , I was convinced that girl staring back at me knew all my thoughts especially with that wry looking smile.
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
The nightmare fuel begins 👀
@stevedickson58532 жыл бұрын
@@AdamMartyn 😶 I'm.. watching..you..even when your tv is turned off..i can still see you.. hee hee
@PaulTaylor12 жыл бұрын
Carole had a Mona Lisa smile, an icon for sure!
@markdavidson91002 жыл бұрын
Have just done test card artwork, with Rose Tyler holding chalk with a Tardis on the board, dalek instead of clown 🤡 R Instead of F and BAD WOLF replacing BBC TV. Wish I could show it to you, this is excellent video
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
That sounds ace! If you have Twitter you could shoot it over as a DM?
@markdavidson91002 жыл бұрын
@@AdamMartyn I don’t unfortunately, and fb has become a dead duck 🦆
@RGC1982 жыл бұрын
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing. I remember seeing both Test card F and the PM5544 Test Card used both here in Australia and also in New Zealamd.
@StevenSmith-mk5fg2 жыл бұрын
Interesting doc and channel. Takes me back to the 80's as a kid. Only a few decades ago or so but a completely different world
@benjohnson31782 жыл бұрын
What a brilliant documentary!
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thanks Ben!
@Treblaine2 жыл бұрын
I suppose what's so strangely eerie about test card F is that it would only appear late at night when I wasn't supposed to be up and it was such a mystery why it existed. Also, Bubbles the clown was 2spooky4me.
@brucedanton3669 Жыл бұрын
It did used to be shown in the daytime up until the 1980s on BBC1 or 2 when daytime tv arrived so too of course.
@craigtansley22332 жыл бұрын
Great vid I just had to watch it Back to a time when things were much more simple 👍
@dearone1 Жыл бұрын
They were still using Test Card W in the Netherlands some years ago, around 2018. I was in Amsterdam, I did some Amsterdam things, went back to my hotel and fell asleep with the TV on. Woke up at 2am with that bloody tone and that bloody clown that had terrorised me as a kid and nearly bloody screamed. Quick way to sober up...
@andypidsley26882 жыл бұрын
Excellent thanks
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thanks Andy!
@krizzys2 жыл бұрын
What a fab video. When I was young, I always mistook the green body of the clown for a shiny green skull! Shows how weird my imagination was!!
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
The imagination is a wonderful thing! Glad you enjoyed the video!
@johndoyle4862 жыл бұрын
TCF never bothered me as a child until around late 1982 when Russell Harty had a testcard special on his evening show on BBC2, featuring Jack Douglas, I think it was. Can't remember exactly what it was that happened, but it creeped the living bejesus out of me, and I was never the same after that...
@robertleem56432 жыл бұрын
I really enjoyed this video, very interesting, many thanks. Brings back memories
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
You're very welcome! Happy to bring in the nostalgia 😊
@morenofranco92352 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane. Great.
@Ginger_Dalek2 жыл бұрын
And that concludes this evening's broadcast.
@TurnFullCircle2 жыл бұрын
Wow....my childhood passed before my eyes....thank you so very much.....Cheers
@PredictedCyborg5 ай бұрын
I have vague memories of being a little child in the 90s and turning on the TV early in the morning and seeing this Test Card. I was very confused and annoyed at the time! xD
@michaeldavison97612 жыл бұрын
Until recently, a version of TC 'W' was available on Freeview through a set of remote control keypad strokes. It was a rather poor resolution version so no real loss. I'm glad I kept a recording of the BBC 1080i TC on my PVR with 5.1 tones.
@Oldgamingfart2 жыл бұрын
Yes, I used the Freeview one to make geometry adjustments to a Sony widescreen set after a few of the tube magnets fell off!
@thefenrisianssweatshop2 жыл бұрын
This was both a wonderful and sometimes jarring trip down memory lane over 42 years of my life. I have memories of a lot of the images shown being on tv whilst I was getting ready for school and college and even uni for a brief spell. And then work. Such simpler times. Makes me want to move back to Sussex and live on the rural coast again. Thanks for the video man. I’ve subbed for sure.
@noneofyourbiz59732 жыл бұрын
What a wonderful documentary you have created. Thank you!
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you for watching it! 😁
@sylviaelse50862 жыл бұрын
My main memory of test cards was how they emphasised that many televisions could not properly display even the undemanding 4:3 picture format, usually clipping a fair amount at the sides. Edit: Corrected 5:4 to 4:3. 5:4 was probably closer to what one often actually got, compared with 4:3 for the transmitted picture.
@MrGeoffHilton2 жыл бұрын
Great, I had completely forgotten about the test card f, used it all the time in the 70s and 80s to check quality especially on VCR recording, with the higher frequency gratings showing the capability of any selected machine.
@mattwebb60562 жыл бұрын
She visited my school when I was younger (around 1998) to give a talk in an assembly
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
That's so cool! Wonder if she still does anything like that today!
@b8nnytez2 жыл бұрын
There was something a little unnerving about F, especially when the high pitch tone would wake you up, on the sofa after a night on the ale, with the little girl staring you down!😁
@NTSCuser2 жыл бұрын
I remember on early colour sets the picture was massively overscanned such that the centre image was the only part of the tesr card visible in colour. Also the clown's body looked more like a shiny balloon than soft fabric.
@matthewpayton2 жыл бұрын
Test card F. Carole Hersee is a legend
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
She certainly is!
@classictellynz3 ай бұрын
Thanks for including New Zealand Mate!!
@j0sh_g1nger2 жыл бұрын
Another amazing documentary, Adam! This is the perfect 1000th video!
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you Josh! It did feel quite fitting and right that it should be No. 1000!
@robrob92082 жыл бұрын
Should do one about tv tax
@g2macs2 жыл бұрын
If I can digress a little from the subject, you reminded me about the first experiments in breakfast T. V in Scotland which was a live feed from BBC Radio's 'Good morning Scotland'. It must of made an impact as I remember listening to it avidly whilst getting ready for school.. .. .
@pauldiffin47262 жыл бұрын
Fab. Cheers.
@macra_2 жыл бұрын
Another perfect documentary Adam, keep em up!!
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much pal! Really glad you enjoyed it! 😊
@kektuss2 жыл бұрын
It’s always good to hear about Life on Mars
@batthew62742 жыл бұрын
i hope you do more of these doccumentaries. i find this stuff really fascinating. since im 20, and didnt experience things like this, i find these stories really interesting. keep it up!
@wisteela2 жыл бұрын
Superb video. I love how it was used in Life on Mars. Then there's also the hidden test card that used to be on Freeview boxes.
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much! I never got chance to access the Test Card on the old Freeview box!
@wisteela2 жыл бұрын
@@AdamMartyn It may still work if you can get hold of a really old one.
@EpicA642 жыл бұрын
Glad I caught the premiere. Thank you for a great video!
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank YOU for being at the premiere! Glad you enjoyed it! 😁
@brucedanton3669 Жыл бұрын
I know it may have been before your time Adam but actually Breakfast Time on BBC1 started in January 1983; followed by TV-am on ITV in the February that year; not a month later as you have said here though too. Other than that of course, well done so then too!
@jezwilde23762 жыл бұрын
There is something of the Mona Lisa with that enigmatic smile. I wonder if that had any influence on its iconic status and longevity?
@tomblack69652 жыл бұрын
Hi Adam. Just found your channel and have subscribed. Thanks for the large dose of nostalgia. I was a 70's kid and loved all the different ITV identity logos. Even though I grew up in turbulence times in Belfast , when you're a kid you still lived in a sort of magical time.
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for coming aboard Tom! Always happy to provide good doses of nostalgia 😊
@henryjameswalker29952 жыл бұрын
Excellent video. Full of information and superbly created. Fantastic 👏👏
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you very much Henry! Glad you enjoyed it and found it informative 😁
@kins7492 жыл бұрын
Charming well put together video, thank you.
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much!
@brucedanton36692 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
@Alantheguy2024 Жыл бұрын
lol
@benjohnson3178 Жыл бұрын
The Test Card was never actually broadcast overnight. Transmitters were simply switched off. Though it would appear first thing in the morning.
@ConStormENT Жыл бұрын
Nice Work
@titanictotired2 жыл бұрын
Well, here it is. Congrats on making 1000 videos, man, that is dedication and what a way to celebrate with a long, entertaining and generally interesting documentary! 👏 👏 👏
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much Hux! Thank you for your support and sticking by the channel!
@titanictotired2 жыл бұрын
@@AdamMartyn No problem Adam, I'll be sure to stick around in the future!
@ChrisATV3012 жыл бұрын
There was also a wet wet wet parody of TCF in 1987 in the video to "wishing I was lucky" & in 1989 there was a "spitting image" parody..
@AidanMillward2 жыл бұрын
That effing clown scared me senseless as a kid.
@antpearson96762 жыл бұрын
God this is one of the most geekiest things that I have ever seen. Thank you it's amazing Any p uk teacher retired
@jesseblack58122 жыл бұрын
i love the documentaries!
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you! I have a lot of fun making them!
@hughenden62 жыл бұрын
we still have TV close in outback Australia into the late 2000's
@squabbbb2 жыл бұрын
Been bingeing your videos all the time at the minute, one of my favourite channels rn!
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you! Glad you're enjoying the videos! 😁
@sanders23784 ай бұрын
Test Card F was my pc wallpaper for many years.
@user-zt1er1uj6i2 жыл бұрын
Excellent, 1st class.
@AdamMartyn2 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@thingstodo60322 жыл бұрын
I worked with the make-up artist for the test card girl when I worked at ITV on the South bank in London nearly 20hrs ago. Fascinating to learn the history behind it. Is there any information regarding Gregories hole on camera line up charts i wonder?
@angiebone73242 жыл бұрын
I recently made a Test CARD F recreation and it looks the same as the original. Nice vid btw, I loved it