Test Card F is a test card that was created by the BBC and used on television in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for more than three decades. Like other test cards, it was usually shown while no programmes were being broadcast. It is the best-known test card worldwide. It has become an iconic British image and is regularly subject to parody. The image on the card shows an eight-year-old girl, Carole Hersee, playing noughts and crosses with a clown doll Bubbles the Clown, surrounded by various greyscales and colour tests needed to ensure a correct picture. It was first broadcast in 1967 on BBC2. Image File history File links Testcard_F.jpg‎ Summary Testcard F Licensing This image is a screenshot of a copyrighted television program or station ID. As such, the copyright for it is most likely owned by the company or corporation that produced it. ... Test pattern 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). ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion (US$7. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Parody of Back to the Future In contemporary usage, a parody is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... Test Card F was a test card, an image used to determine the quality of a broadcast television picture, and due to its use on BBC television for more than 30 years when broadcasting was off the air, it is probably the most commonly seen test card in the world. ... Tic-tac-toe, also called noughts and crosses and many other names, is a paper and pencil game between two players, O and X, who alternate in marking the spaces in a 3×3 board. ... Bubbles is the name given to the clown doll that appears in BBCs Test card F as well as the remade versions J & W. He is pictured playing with a young girl (Carol Hersee) playing noughts and crosses. ... In computing, a grayscale or greyscale digital image is an image in which the value of each pixel is a single sample. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The card was developed by a BBC engineer, the late George Hersee, father of Carole, the girl pictured in the central image. It was frequently broadcast during downtime on BBC1 until that channel went fully 24 hours in 1997, and on BBC Two until its downtime was replaced entirely by Pages from Ceefax in 1998, after which it was only seen during engineering work, and was last seen in this role in 1999. Test Card J and Test Card W, which are digitally enhanced and widescreen versions respectively, have replaced it, although they themselves are very infrequently broadcast because the BBC now broadcasts BBC News 24 and Ceefax pages instead of a test card on its terrestrial channels. Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... George Hersee was a BBC engineer, who is most famous for his development of Test Card F. This design came about after Hersee was asked to intervene by the committee charged with the creation of technical standards for the new colour TV services. ... BBC One (styled BBC1 until 1997) is the most watched domestic television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A BBC Ceefax page from January 9, 2007. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean by UNESCO. [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Test Card J is a test card, an image used to determine the quality of a broadcast television picture. ... Test Card W is a test card, an image used to determine the quality of a broadcast television picture. ... BBC News 24 is the BBCs 24 hour rolling news television channel in the United Kingdom. ... A BBC Ceefax page from 10 September 1999 Ceefax (phonetic for See Facts) is the BBCs teletext information service. ...

Technical information

Virtually all the designs and patterns on the card have some significance. Along the top are the main colours of white, yellow, cyan, green, magenta, red, blue and black. There are triangles on each of the four sides of the card to check for correct overscanning of the picture. The standard greyscale and frequency response tests are found on either side of the central picture. On the updated Test Card J, the X on the noughts-and-crosses board is an indicator for aligning the centre of the screen. A person was depicted so that wrong skin colour would be obvious. Even the garish colours of the clown had a purpose, according to the BBC, because their juxtaposition is such that a common transmission error called chrominance/luminance delay made the clown's buttons show up white. A white rose. ... A yellow Tulip. ... Cyan (from Greek κυανοs, meaning blue) may be used as the name of any of a number of a range of colors in the blue/green part of the spectrum. ... Mossy, green fountain in Wattens, Austria. ... Magenta is a color made up of equal parts of red and blue light. ... Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 625–750 nm. ... YOU SUCK!!!!! ... Black cat, thought by some to cause bad luck (see superstition) Black is the shade of objects that do not reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum. ... FreQuency is a music video game developed by Harmonix and published by SCEI. It was released in November 2001. ... Test Card J is a test card, an image used to determine the quality of a broadcast television picture. ...

The name of the broadcasting channel often appeared in the space underneath the letter F. Originally a photographic slide, the card was converted to an electronic version in 1984. In photography, a transparency is a still, positive image created on a transparent base using photochemical means. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Test Card F music

A sound of some kind usually is transmitted in the background. It is sometimes music, usually a composition commissioned by the station itself or "royalty-free" stock music in order to avoid having to pay royalties for something that does not generate revenue. Sometimes a radio station commissioned by the same broadcaster is played. However, during more recent years during which the Test Card is only played during engineering tests on the BBC, it is more common to hear a steady tone of various pitches accompanied by a female talking clock. Test Card music had ceased to be frequently heard in the 1980s (though it continued to be played over Pages From Ceefax- which continues to this day).

Trivia

• The clown doll is named Bubbles.
• In the 1970s ITV satirical series, End of Part One, there is an audition for a new test card 'girl'. This features various adults (including a bearded man) sitting behind a giant test-card cutout and attempting the same pose as Test Card F.
• The image has appeared on recordings of easy listening music played during transmissions: The Girl, The Doll, The Music and Big Bandwidth, both released by Chandos Records.
• A fictional version of Test Card F, of sorts, appears in the BBC television series Life on Mars. A girl resembling Carole Hersee acts as a sort of spiritual guide in the series. The real thing however, flashes on and off during a BBC One ident in order to create the feeling of the 1970s (during which time the programme is set).
• The Weebl and Bob cartoon "merchandise" features a parody of Test Card F, in which Carole is replaced by Weebl and the clown is replaced by Bob (wearing a clown's hat and makeup).
• A close-to-Test card F (With Carole replaced) can be seen in 2006 on Channel M as part of the Frank Sidebottom show.
• Roger Mellie of Viz magazine fame appeared in the introductory frame of one of his cartoons as a substitute to Carole Hersee. Instead of playing tic-tac-toe he has written 'bollocks' on the blackboard.
• Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding of BBC Three's cult comedy programme The Mighty Boosh posed for a parody of Test Card F for Guardian Unlimited in 2006.
• A spoof of Test card F was done by Channel 4 as an advertisement for an uncut music video programme. The advertisement features a supermodel posing as Carole and then picking up the chalkboard using it to beat the clown.
• An updated version of Test Card F will appear on Sky HD, with television presenter Myleene Klass playing the role of Carole Hersee. Unlike the original static Test Card F, Klass will step out of the frame and give viewers a ten-minute guide to high-definition television. [1]

Bubbles is the name given to the clown doll that appears in BBCs Test card F as well as the remade versions J & W. He is pictured playing with a young girl (Carol Hersee) playing noughts and crosses. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979. ... It has been suggested that Channel 3 (UK) be merged into this article or section. ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... Easy listening music is a style of popular music which emerged in the mid-20th century. ... Chandos Records is an independent classical music label based in the UK. They have high standards of sound engineering quality. ... Life on Mars is a British television drama series, which was shown on BBC One in January and February 2006. ... This article is about the Flash Cartoon series, Weebl and Bob. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Channel M is a television station which is based in Manchester. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Roger Mellie (The Man on the Telly) is a fictional character featured in Viz magazine. ... Viz is a popular British adult spoof comic magazine. ... Tic-tac-toe, also called noughts and crosses and many other names, is a paper and pencil game between two players, O and X, who alternate in marking the spaces in a 3×3 board. ... Julian Barratt Pettifer (born 4 May 1968) is an English comedian, Music Producer and actor. ... Noel Fielding (born 21 May 1973 in Westminster, London, England) is an English comedian and actor, most famous for his role as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh. ... BBC Three, the successor to the similar BBC Choice, is a British television channel from the BBC broadcasting only on digital cable, terrestrial and satellite. ... The Mighty Boosh is a British cult comedy about two friends who go on magical adventures. ... Front page of Guardian Unlimited from August 16, 2005 Guardian Unlimited is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... The Sky HD logo Sky HD is the brand name of the HDTV service launched by BSkyB on 22 May 2006 in the UK and the Republic of Ireland to enable high definition channels on Sky Digital to be viewed. ... Myleene Angela Klass (born 6 April 1978) is a British classical pianist, commercial model, television and radio presenter, and former member of the UK pop group HearSay. ...

See also

• Test card
• List of BBC test cards

Test pattern 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). ... The following is a list of test cards used by the BBC at various points in broadcasting. ...

External links

• Test card special (BBC News, 19 April 2001)
• A history of the card
• A history of the BBC's test cards
• Downloadable test card wallpaper from the BBC
• Interview about the Mighty Boosh's Test Card F parody