The Evolution of NTSC Color Bars: 1954-2009

[@ArtieArchives]

Each year, pitch gets higher.

[@THIS-CHANNEL-IS-DEAD]

Artie Knight YT and the bars get lower or higher

[@wigwagstudios2474]

2090: *100KHz*

[@starry7955]

Nyarome 2 2350: *99999999999999999Mhz*

[@wmbrown6]

It's a matter of evolution over time. When electronic color bars were first introduced in 1954, 400 Hz was the predominant tone. Other tones began to be heard over the years, each station's S.O.P. being different, and by the time SMPTE ECR 1-1978 (later designated EG 1-1990) was first classified, many stations had gone on to the 1 kHz tone.

[@ComicToonProductions]

1000hz is the most well known frequency people hear.

[@denelson83]

Well, 400 Hz is more comfortable to listen to. CBUT in Vancouver used the EIA-189A colour bars with a 400 Hz tone.

[@PianoNBS]

1. G3 2. A3 3. B3 4. D#4 5. Gb4 6. A# 4 7. B4 8. B4 9. B4 Tones

[@lasmani1692]

I can make b4 tone with my voice

[@TheTerraTitan]

So inspiring... Beautiful. I cried tears of joy and delight upon watching this inspirational story.

[@pasta8337]

WHAT THE

[@CityGirlCountry]

I didn't know that they had color bars in the 1950s! I thought that they only appeared on TV from 1968 on, in one form or another. I've just been blown away! Very nice!

[@Seven7601]

Well, in France they saw colors in the 1960s with the invention of SECAM

[@mannmannsavage92]

I always thought color bars didn't start until 1987. Anything earlier was static.

[@essvee86]

This is when you know you're really bored!

[@flatcapman]

Or that's your a Super Mario Boo and you love the tone

[@citrux2638]

Or when you are making a video

[@flatcapman]

the colors and tone for me suggest a comfort zone. I know TV is going to come on and its like a friendly greeting.

[@DigitalImagesToront]

They are used to setup and align the equipment in the control room and studios. Each color bar contains at least one of the primary colors used in television. There is also pure black and pure white. The monitors used in the control rooms have switches that allow you to turn off each color. The bars are used to adjust each color.

[@flatcapman]

They are also used to calm people after harsh static as a sign of a broadcast and a safety zone for some

[@10shinobi50]

i like how the pitch slowly gets higher as it progresses

[@FNAFNicky]

0:49 The main color bar screen I remembered in my childhood.

[@Nicksolo85]

Well it seems nothing's on right now, so..... Time to go to bed. But for some reason, I'm not tired despite the fact it's after midnight. (looks at shelf full of various console video games) What do I wanna play?

[@wthrz]

Don't forget to blow out those cartridges!

[@WilliamsportWeatherman]

Nicksolo85 a

[@GamerSpartan-p6b]

0:50 The one we're all used to

[@beckybecky125]

1:02 What? That's the lost episode? That was just a bunch of cheap walk cycles! (Steam blows out of ears) SPONGEBOB BETRAYED US!

[@danielferguson2606]

CREEPER 125 / TehVegasSpartan HD RoadTo5000Subs

[@bestfrogs247]

Thank you for posting the video!

[@loneshewolf74]

I remember getting up early as a kid and the bar colors and tones would change at certain times, like at around 6:55 they would suddenly get much skinnier and the tone would be much higher pitched, which kind of matched my impatience and anticipation for the cartoons to come on. :)

[@DigitalImagesToront]

@Lvl60Slayer They are used to setup and align the equipment in the control room and studios. Each color bar contains at least one of the primary colors used in television. There is also pure black and pure white. The monitors used in the control rooms have switches that allow you to turn off each color. The bars are used to adjust each color.

[@potatoegirl31]

Date guesstimates for each: 1954, 1959, 1965, 1971, 1976, 1982, 1987, 2002, 2009 (feel free to correct me, lol)

[@potatoegirl31]

I am 90% sure of the '1987' one because our CBC affiliate, CHSJ in St. John, NB, used to show this one, with instrumental music in the background in the early morning...I used to stare at it and listen before the New Adventures of Pinnochio/Tales of Wizard of Oz cartoons came on that summer! LOL

[@ricorodriguez9472]

@@potatoegirl31 you said this 1 year ago :/

[@potatoegirl31]

So what do you want me to do, delete it? My 'duplicate ' comment that is supposedly annoying you so much was on a different video (though by the same uploader) I thought different people would see it...sorry you felt the need to be rude to me -_-

[@ricorodriguez9472]

@@potatoegirl31 meh it's not like it was not earrape

[@albear972]

Reminds me of the 80's too, back when TV stations signed off even in the big city of LA and told you good night. And for 4 hours they showed snow from 1 to 5 AM. And then at 5AM they showed the patriotic propaganda stuff with the jet fighters, marine band, US flag national anthem ETC. Now TV stations never sign off.

[@encryptededdy]

Discription: The tones heard go from the lowest to the highest with each different color bar design: 400 Hz, 440 Hz, 480 Hz, 600 Hz, 750 Hz, 900 Hz and 1 kHz. Volume set at -12 dB.

[@TheMicdave]

Now I know what is the history of Color Bars. Great Video!

[@v5hr1ke]

Any updates about NTSCs from 2010 to 2024? They're still relevant in some places.

[@TheMediaHoarder]

@Headshot4Fun If you look at a standard test pattern through a blue filter, you can adjust the color exactly the way it's supposed to be- through the filter you should see alternating bright and black bars, and the small blocks at the bottom of the bars should appear to be the same color as the main bar also.

[@wmbrown6]

1954 was the year the NTSC color standard officially took effect.

[@wmbrown6]

@Jumpybeaver - If you saw a photo of the first color sets being produced at RCA's Bloomington, IN plant in 1954, you'll notice electronic color bars showing on the screen (the first example on this clip).

[@AHuebner2004able]

WOSU TV channel 34 in Columbus, Ohio used The second color bar identification with the tone in an A.

[@daiamondorobotto9812]

The Evolution of NTSC Color Base: 1962-2017

[@Marbles471]

Wow. When I was four years old around 1987, I remember seeing the bars on WNET-13 if I got up early enough waiting for Sesame Street. Now the idea of TV stations actually having a "broadcast day" that actually ends and begins again in the morning seems downright quaint. Forget a 24-hour media culture-----we've evolved into a 48-hour media culture! XD Kids aren't going to understand a key plot point of the movie "Poltergeist" down the road. Heck, they already wouldn't! XP

[@mikantsumiki1081]

*I think your audience has seen enough*

[@henrystrikesbacklive6484]

00:49 Is The Same Bleep Tone Used At The End Of 1990s Vhs Tapes Which Is The 900hz Tone This Tone Is Also Used As A Censor Bleep For Television Shows From Ratings: TV PG,TV 14,TV MA Like For Example: When You Say Fuck In A TV 14 Show A 900 hz Tone (Known As Bleep) Will Block The Word Not Allowed To Be Heard On TV 14 Rated Shows The 900 hz Tone Is Still Used Today We All Knew The Tone From 1990-Present. Color Bars Are Kinda Of A Test Of Colors In The Tv Pixels & Stuff

[@PlayerFiveVids]

It's 1khz.

[@ericsamuelson5656]

0:35 was the test pattern WICZ Ch 40 Binghamton had until the early 90s during signoff hours. 0:52 was the test pattern on WMGC Ch 34 Binghamton had during signoff hours.

[@McOuchies]

The only time this happened to me is when I was 4, I don't remember exactly how it happened, I may have been playing a video game, I don't know. All I remember is that it made me cry.

[@wmbrown6]

@banjotenie - It was for calibrating TV screens and monitors, both at TV studios and in the home.

[@jivinliew]

The pitch is coming up like music.

[@thecooldude9999]

the first experements in color were conducted in 1931 in england

[@wmbrown6]

I've seen the SMPTE color bars on CBC channels, albeit with a 180 deg. gradation ramp on the top. Their equivalent of the Philips PM5544, I've noticed, also has 180 deg. burst "stairsteps" within the pattern rather than grayscale.

[@THK2012]

The 1987-current bleep is also used as a censor bleep

[@OtakuMegane]

@banjotenie In the past a lot of TV stations shut down at night and would usually leave these color bars up till they began again in the morning. They would sometimes be broadcast periodically so people could adjust their TV as needed. Most stations run 24 hours now, though. Your best bet is check local access cable channels, usually very late at night. It's about the only place I've seen them in the last decade or so.

[@kikonewbiusshots4646]

SMPTE beeps old to HD

[@flatcapman]

its funny with the idea of one of these screaming "SILENCE" Me "Hail to BEEEEEEP" IT "Thank you" the bars bow and smile

[@Marbles471]

Fair enough. MORE than fair enough. And to think 20 years ago people would have said the culture had gotten frenetic and brainless. I tremble to think where we'll be in 20 more years. Actually, scratch that. Things change so fast these days that I'm dreading the next 20 MINUTES. XD

[@movedtoanotheraccount2137]

0:59 Today

[@13TVEATJNAUTTPEMERALDSDIAMONDS]

0:50 IT IS SOUNDS BETTER

[@wmbrown6]

@TheCaleyman - From what I can recall, BBC2's leap to colour was actually in summer 1967.

[@SanicTK2]

classical... When I was small and the channel doesn't have any programme, this thing showed up. I dont know what was it and the sound was annoying

[@megarayquazagaming2123]

What the heck am I doing with my life🤔🤔

[@Mozart8889]

0:51 I like this version.

[@FNAFNicky]

Which one is the 1979 version of the WGN 1979 sign off video?

[@wigwagstudios2474]

if you play all the tones on the piano it's a really cool chord

[@wilkes85]

I seen lots of different colour bars on local TV where I live (western Canada), and none like in the video. The french channel has narrow coloured bars ranging from dark to light with "RADIO CANADA" below it, CBC used to have something that looked like a colour bar, but it was all in green, and the tone had a strange "wow" effect to it, and CTV still uses the ancient B&W test card from the '50s, with a pleasing low frequency tone. They pasted the station logo over the indian head though lol

[@Imabluewall5]

0:48 This is used by YTP

[@CatholicNiko]

As the years went by, the pitch just went as high as to make you deaf

[@andrewortiz7152]

Why isn't the black color bar added?

[@MIKECNW]

It would be more interesting to see actual footage from those years though most of such footage probably wasn't preserved. Especially since more stations signed off at the end of the day. Anyone ever sat down to watch these?

[@urapieceofcrud]

this deserves a remix.

[@ryanasaurus0077]

Number 5 is at the start of my 1978 MEDA Video print of Rod Stewart and Faces in Concert. And I think you missed one set, which features the usual colors taking up much of the screen, with the lower part containing, in this order, dark blue, dark purple, black, and white. That set appears at the start of my 1978 MEDA Video print of Farewell Concert of Cream.

[@GianLukeLaoaganonROBLOX]

0:49 original

[@wmbrown6]

Funny, I set the volume at -12 dB. But many TV engineers preferred the 400 Hz tone to 1 kHz, very likely due to that sensitivity issue of which you speak.

[@DAngelChavezM]

Timestamps 0:00 1954 0:09 1959 0:17 1964 0:25 1967 0:33 1972 0:41 1975 0:49 1978 0:59 2002 (4:3) 1:04 2002 (16:9) It has been a good use, but time and technology has been changed. And we will remember the analog signal that witnessed from the 1950s to the 2010s. Thanks for the memories…📺🌈

[@wmbrown6]

@markojameow - I've seen a picture of what later became known as EIA RS-189A color bars shown on a monitor - only the picture was taken in 1964, and the control room was within ABC in New York, at a time when they had only a few color programs, all on film.

[@albear972]

Who was using Netscape in 2009? I remember using it back in 1996. But 2009? Wooooot?

[@FurbyFanClassOf2024]

My brain in school

[@wmbrown6]

I'm aware of that . . . created as ARIB STD-B28, adapted for U.S. use as SMPTE RP 219-2002.

[@Ashes2Ashes_Blush2Blush]

I wonder why it was necessary to up the pitch.

[@missbleach8767]

So that the batter won't be able to hit the ball.

[@potatoegirl31]

The third one dates to at least 1969! (seen briefly on an Ernie and Bert 'test pilot' clip found here, uploaded by PumpkinJFriends) but strangely, it has the low 1954 tone....

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I remember seeing one of these earlier ones pop up in a book about TV that was published in the 60's and didn't realize how bit the bottom white square used to be.

[@wmbrown6]

@loneshewolf74 - They might've switched between the studio setup and what was coming out of their transmitting facilities. Sometimes one was different from the other.

[@adisgracetoghost9957]

SOON WE'LL TELEVISE OUR C-O-L-O-R

[@meriadoc_brandybuck]

You're right.

[@acactus1747]

ah, i see you’re a man of culture as well.

[@MOXIE_1208]

I was waiting for this comment

[@AmxCsifier]

- Presses the number keys - Biano

[@ryanasaurus0077]

@ryanasaurus0077 BTW Number 5 on my Rod Stewart tape uses the standard 1000 Hz tone, and the one on my Cream tape uses something like 1175 Hz; this should be in no way representative of the tones you'll hear if and when you find that missing one I described.

[@Sereniama]

... I remember this show.

[@Null__Troll]

2nd one is the classic.

[@GustavoSilva-x4e]

0:48 Famous NTSC Bars

[@PiotrBarcz]

So I'm curious now, why would they change the test tone? It doesn't make any sense to me at all.

[@XTRgames2024]

my left ear enjoyed this

[@wmbrown6]

Not me, I'm well aware of the differences in Hz. (Some would say that if you hear it for too long a period, it really "Hz.") But look above to see why some engineers preferred lower tones.

[@Orplie]

I think color bars are scary. :(

[@Vitor_Ossik]

Same

[@wmbrown6]

@grandandgolden - This isn't old analogue NTSC. Some cable systems continue to transmit old SD 640 x 480.

[@quantumbits]

@Jumpybeaver Bars and and Indian head have different purposes. Bars test chroma phase and gray levels. Indian head is mostly for resolution.

[@charlesmonsoon]

holy fuck im baked

[@NiteGrite]

0:50 most known color bar

[@angelpichu1]

spongebob's secret tv channel through out the years.

[@angeloscaturro811]

0:50 Bleep censor.

[@lqweiii]

Angelo Scaturro 0:50

[@alealphyxis]

0:50

[@KyronAlison]

Hello Bi-0:50 COMES TO THE RESCUE

[@est1569]

Suddenly SSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTFFFFFFFFFF STATIC

[@mncphl]

GO Galaxy Original Soundtrack Testcard by GMA Playlist with 1 kHz Sine Wave Tone.

[@wmbrown6]

"Never TWICE the Same Color." Big difference. ;O)

[@josephfrye7342]

there it was tada and now today.

[@rotatingcat1957]

2009 is my favourite

[@waki008reacts8]

00:06 - 00:13 - 00:21 - 00:27 - 00:35 - 00:51 - 01:00 - 01:05

[@x8pz]

0:51 this is the only one I remember

[@AaaahShaddaaap]

Press 1,2,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,2,3,1.

[@Devo57]

AaaahShaddaaap I don’t get it.

[@rtcp2020]

What was the tone for the 4th one?

[@mncphl]

1000hz Wave Tone used by GTV-27.

[@damiangardner7973]

RIP HEADPHONE USERS

[@LuisMcDougal24]

I’m not even lying I made a whole entire song out of this

[@x8pz]

Can I see it

[@mr_likers1589]

But... In 3019, pitch gets too high, it bleeds your ears...

[@twisterkid2021]

they don't use this after june 12 2009

[@CosbyTheCaterpillar]

lol thanks I've been trying to figur that out.

[@arthur_is_drawing2218]

Wich one is from 1987?

[@wmbrown6]

Evolved? Sounds more like "devolved." Especially since many of the TV shows on the air these days stink.

[@Slxrrs]

Whos here in 2018?

[@GamerSpartan-p6b]

1st one: OH YEA BIG BOY BASE

[@toaalta]

Press key numbers from 1 to 0 to play a song!

[@MrXemrox]

That yellow bar is a jerk.