TV test pattern / test card
A test card is (according to Wikipedia):
A test card, also known as a test pattern in North America, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active, but no program is being broadcast (often at startup and closedown). Originally, all test cards were actually physical cards at which a television camera was pointed, and such cards are still often used for calibration, alignment, and matching of cameras and camcorders. Test patterns used for calibrating or troubleshooting the downstream signal path are nowadays generated by test signal generators, which do not depend on the correct configuration of (and presence of) a camera.
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Most 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
Some examples:
Why do I blog this? first because I like their odd design; second because it’s an artifact that belongs to the past. What’s the equivalent of the test pattern for the Web?
May 23rd, 2006 at 4:25 pm
Years ago, I met a sound engineer from CBS News in New York who told me an anecdote that the guy responsible for embedding these sort of test patterns into news footage used to spell out messages that could only be read in the dots on his vectorscope: rude words, criticisms of news readers, etc. I guess you have to make your work entertaining somehow.
April 21st, 2007 at 12:38 am
Yes, I have a color pattern that spells out “F*ck you!” in a vector scope. I’ll try to post it.