The Test Card Girl: The Lasting Legacy of Test Card F | An AMTV Documentary

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 มิ.ย. 2024
  • Ever since the dawn of television, test patterns have been used to help engineers and viewers alike, calibrate and tune their sets to achieve the best possible picture. From a simple line & circle, to tuning signals, up until the introduction of what we would call, the Test Card. From the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, the Test Card would gradually evolve in the world of black-and-white, but all of that would change in 1967...
    With the introduction of colour, a brand new colour Test Card was required. Engineer George Hersee, would photograph his then 8-year-old daughter Carole, together with her clown Bubbles. And little did they know, that Test Card F, would go on to not only become a synonymous image for colour television, but for classic television as a whole.
    Join me, as we explore the history, impact & legacy, of Test Card F!
    Sources for the video and audio used in this documentary are included in the credits at the end
    Special Thanks to Clean Feed & The TV Room
    - cleanfeed.thetvroom.com/3528/...
    MY LINKS:
    Patreon - / adammartynamtv
    Twitter - AdamMartynAMTV
    00:00 - Prologue & Titles
    01:43 - Chapter One: What Came Before
    05:01 - Chapter Two: Noughts & Crosses
    10:53 - Chapter Three: A New Age
    17:45 - Chapter Four: Legacy
    21:18 - Credits
    With Thanks To Our Patrons: (as of 14/03/2022)
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    Please like, comment, share, subscribe and check out my other videos! :D
    #TestCardF #TestCardGirl #AMTV
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ความคิดเห็น • 448

  • @jas20per
    @jas20per 2 ปีที่แล้ว +149

    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.

  • @gabeangel8104
    @gabeangel8104 2 ปีที่แล้ว +74

    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

  • @Edward_Plantagenet
    @Edward_Plantagenet 2 ปีที่แล้ว +129

    Fun fact Carol is left handed so they actually flipped the slide round to make it seem as if she’s right handed.

    • @stephenmatura1086
      @stephenmatura1086 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Another fun fact is that the letter X on the board represents the exact centre of the screeen.

    • @SunburntHands
      @SunburntHands 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@stephenmatura1086 I had heard that too, but pausing on the different variants, the X is slightly off centre until J, onscreen at 15:07.

    • @hooverboy2331
      @hooverboy2331 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      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 ?

    • @weirdplanet1082
      @weirdplanet1082 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Yup; sounds about right (no pun intended) discrimination against us left handed folk was more wide spread back then.

    • @StarWarsJay
      @StarWarsJay 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I don’t believe you. The X and O aren’t reversed.

  • @richardhalliday6469
    @richardhalliday6469 2 ปีที่แล้ว +118

    As a retired TV engineer I thoroughly enjoyed this video - brilliant.

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Thank you Richard! Hope it brought back some happy memories! 😊

    • @wavebroadcastingllc187
      @wavebroadcastingllc187 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      **test card f***

    • @stevekitt52
      @stevekitt52 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      As a former TV engineer, I spent many an hour with Test Card F. Carol and her clown were a very useful assistant.

    • @philipmcdonagh1094
      @philipmcdonagh1094 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      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.

  • @toresbe
    @toresbe 2 ปีที่แล้ว +68

    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.

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      What an ace piece of TV history to hold on to! 😁

    • @toresbe
      @toresbe 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      ​@@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". :)

    • @thorbjrnhellehaven5766
      @thorbjrnhellehaven5766 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      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_uk
      @j0hnf_uk 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      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.

    • @esecallum
      @esecallum 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      get it valued. could be worth millions !!!!!!!!!!

  • @thefrecklepuny
    @thefrecklepuny 2 ปีที่แล้ว +115

    My older sister was terrified of that test card. Turns out she was not the only one. Still freaks her out decades later!

    • @hazelevans872
      @hazelevans872 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      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 😂😂 👍

    • @KarlHamilton
      @KarlHamilton 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Same!!! The clown is still scary as hell.

    • @rachelc1492
      @rachelc1492 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Yeah it's definitely the clown that's freaky. I could never figure out why it was so shiny and its body was weird.

    • @billfranks6805
      @billfranks6805 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I was born in 1966 and was always asking my mum in early 70s who won the game funny never did get an answer??!

    • @danic9304
      @danic9304 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      It's super creepy and always was

  • @welshlad6427
    @welshlad6427 2 ปีที่แล้ว +53

    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 👏👏

    • @pauldoree3967
      @pauldoree3967 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I believe there is actually a test card appreciation society

    • @Trev359
      @Trev359 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      programme*.

    • @brucedanton3669
      @brucedanton3669 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@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.

  • @joshuaaaron125
    @joshuaaaron125 2 ปีที่แล้ว +64

    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 😂

    • @paulkeith9680
      @paulkeith9680 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

    • @AidanMillward
      @AidanMillward 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      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.

    • @perishingtardis
      @perishingtardis 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      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.

    • @joshuaaaron125
      @joshuaaaron125 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@perishingtardis always when we tried to sneak a crafty hour of cartoons In 😂

    • @bigbark4627
      @bigbark4627 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Always the "full volume"!! 🤣 😖

  • @fanbladeinstruments
    @fanbladeinstruments 2 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    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.

  • @stevefaul1710
    @stevefaul1710 2 ปีที่แล้ว +45

    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.

    • @jamesm90
      @jamesm90 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Still used within the BBC well the 1080 version.

    • @mat2000100
      @mat2000100 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Was it used on the air back in the day?

  • @richardmattocks
    @richardmattocks 2 ปีที่แล้ว +76

    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.

    • @michaeldavison9761
      @michaeldavison9761 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Basically correct. The noughts and crosses was to show static convergence errors but the 'X' was not centralised until TC 'J' came along.

    • @jamesdean8785
      @jamesdean8785 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Grea factage Rich

    • @fdfsdfsvsfgsg4888
      @fdfsdfsvsfgsg4888 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      It just isn't though. Anyone can see that.

    • @Dr.Thirteen
      @Dr.Thirteen 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@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

    • @SusanAmberBruce
      @SusanAmberBruce 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@michaeldavison9761 Yeah that's right

  • @Alola_Hanna-Barbera_TMS_Fan
    @Alola_Hanna-Barbera_TMS_Fan 2 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    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.

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      That they did! But no others were arguably ever as iconic as the original! 😁

    • @Alola_Hanna-Barbera_TMS_Fan
      @Alola_Hanna-Barbera_TMS_Fan 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@AdamMartyn For sure. The original Test Card F just cannot be topped

  • @richardhunter7363
    @richardhunter7363 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    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

  • @remaincalm2
    @remaincalm2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    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! ;-)

  • @j0hnf_uk
    @j0hnf_uk 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    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.

  • @sundaygirl4299
    @sundaygirl4299 2 ปีที่แล้ว +29

    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__L
      @kaitlyn__L 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      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._

    • @sundaygirl4299
      @sundaygirl4299 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@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__L
      @kaitlyn__L 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@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? :)

  • @UKGeezer
    @UKGeezer 2 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    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.

  • @timpearce3314
    @timpearce3314 2 ปีที่แล้ว +32

    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,...🤩

    • @PatrickSwayzeOnDbol
      @PatrickSwayzeOnDbol 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Bamboozle was always fun to play.

    • @skylined5534
      @skylined5534 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      "They may safely graze... BUT NOT TODAY!"

    • @glpilpi6209
      @glpilpi6209 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      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-jackson7348
      @joannedixon-jackson7348 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Sheep May Safely Graze is by J S Bach if I’m not mistaken.

    • @timpearce3314
      @timpearce3314 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@joannedixon-jackson7348 whoops, your right of course..🙄lol....

  • @Steampunksaly
    @Steampunksaly 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    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.

    • @maskedavenger2578
      @maskedavenger2578 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      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 .

    • @skylined5534
      @skylined5534 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I think the amount of stuff including easy access to 24 hour social media is the downfall of the younger generations.

  • @nriab23
    @nriab23 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    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.

  • @DanaTheInsane
    @DanaTheInsane 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    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.

  • @darkcornersuk
    @darkcornersuk 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    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..

  • @MrButtonpresser
    @MrButtonpresser 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    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. : )

  • @indigohammer5732
    @indigohammer5732 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Not many people know that Bubbles won that game of noughts and crosses.

  • @goosegog
    @goosegog 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    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.

  • @Treblaine
    @Treblaine 2 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    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
      @brucedanton3669 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      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.

  • @klisher
    @klisher 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

  • @DCSMedia
    @DCSMedia 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    Brilliant documentary, possibly your best one. The test card girl is such a timeless image, it’s so simple, but iconic

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Thank you so much! Arguable the most iconic television image out there!

  • @RH11THM
    @RH11THM 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    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"

  • @lukegibson191
    @lukegibson191 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    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

  • @NigelDixon1952
    @NigelDixon1952 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    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?

  • @JonnyInfinite
    @JonnyInfinite 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I remember watching this before the kids TV started on a Saturday. I used to swear I'd see her slightly move....

  • @System_Sega
    @System_Sega 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    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.

    • @indie3892
      @indie3892 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      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

  • @andresbravo2003
    @andresbravo2003 2 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    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.

    • @andresbravo2003
      @andresbravo2003 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Btw, I am not a British user, I am a Venezuelan user. That’s all I can tell.

  • @97channel
    @97channel 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    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.

  • @martybhoy72
    @martybhoy72 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    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

  • @1Soniccool
    @1Soniccool 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I want to see this test card in 4K when the BBC starts to broadcasting in 4K

  • @RandomnessTube.
    @RandomnessTube. 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    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.

  • @stevedickson5853
    @stevedickson5853 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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.

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The nightmare fuel begins 👀

    • @stevedickson5853
      @stevedickson5853 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@AdamMartyn 😶 I'm.. watching..you..even when your tv is turned off..i can still see you.. hee hee

  • @TheGramophoneGirl
    @TheGramophoneGirl 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    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.

  • @BobbyDazzler440
    @BobbyDazzler440 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    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.

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Always a pleasure my friend 😊

  • @GGYT.
    @GGYT. 2 ปีที่แล้ว +36

    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)

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      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! 😊

    • @isabellaangeline2175
      @isabellaangeline2175 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That’s honestly great! I’m extremely proud of you.

  • @nigelsears7191
    @nigelsears7191 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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

  • @zednotdead
    @zednotdead 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    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!

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Thank you so much pal! 😁 really happy that it got your interest!

  • @PaulTaylor1
    @PaulTaylor1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Carole had a Mona Lisa smile, an icon for sure!

  • @karlkammer3050
    @karlkammer3050 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    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__L
      @kaitlyn__L 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      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 :)

  • @gaius_enceladus
    @gaius_enceladus 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    New Zealander here - I remember "Test Card F" well! I'm sure we had exactly the same version as the UK!

  • @sanders2378
    @sanders2378 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Test Card F was my pc wallpaper for many years.

  • @markdavidson9100
    @markdavidson9100 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    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

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That sounds ace! If you have Twitter you could shoot it over as a DM?

    • @markdavidson9100
      @markdavidson9100 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@AdamMartyn I don’t unfortunately, and fb has become a dead duck 🦆

  • @dearone1
    @dearone1 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    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...

  • @thefenrisianssweatshop
    @thefenrisianssweatshop 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    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.

  • @johndoyle486
    @johndoyle486 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    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...

  • @noneofyourbiz5973
    @noneofyourbiz5973 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    What a wonderful documentary you have created. Thank you!

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you for watching it! 😁

  • @batthew6274
    @batthew6274 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    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!

  • @j0sh_g1nger
    @j0sh_g1nger 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Another amazing documentary, Adam! This is the perfect 1000th video!

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thank you Josh! It did feel quite fitting and right that it should be No. 1000!

    • @robrob9208
      @robrob9208 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Should do one about tv tax

  • @b8nnytez
    @b8nnytez 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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!😁

  • @EpicA64
    @EpicA64 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Glad I caught the premiere. Thank you for a great video!

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Thank YOU for being at the premiere! Glad you enjoyed it! 😁

  • @macra_
    @macra_ 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Another perfect documentary Adam, keep em up!!

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Thanks so much pal! Really glad you enjoyed it! 😊

  • @Ginger_Dalek
    @Ginger_Dalek 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    And that concludes this evening's broadcast.

  • @michaeldavison9761
    @michaeldavison9761 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    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.

    • @Oldgamingfart
      @Oldgamingfart 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yes, I used the Freeview one to make geometry adjustments to a Sony widescreen set after a few of the tube magnets fell off!

  • @almostanengineer
    @almostanengineer 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Oh my god! Sky Guide! The memories 😂

  • @benjohnson3178
    @benjohnson3178 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    What a brilliant documentary!

  • @sylviaelse5086
    @sylviaelse5086 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    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.

  • @squabbbb
    @squabbbb 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Been bingeing your videos all the time at the minute, one of my favourite channels rn!

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Thank you! Glad you're enjoying the videos! 😁

  • @TurnFullCircle
    @TurnFullCircle 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Wow....my childhood passed before my eyes....thank you so very much.....Cheers

  • @RGC198
    @RGC198 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

  • @andypidsley2688
    @andypidsley2688 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Excellent thanks

  • @kins749
    @kins749 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Charming well put together video, thank you.

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thank you so much!

  • @morenofranco9235
    @morenofranco9235 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane. Great.

  • @krizzys
    @krizzys 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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!!

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The imagination is a wonderful thing! Glad you enjoyed the video!

  • @StevenSmith-mk5fg
    @StevenSmith-mk5fg 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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

  • @robertleem5643
    @robertleem5643 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I really enjoyed this video, very interesting, many thanks. Brings back memories

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว

      You're very welcome! Happy to bring in the nostalgia 😊

  • @craigtansley2233
    @craigtansley2233 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Great vid
    I just had to watch it
    Back to a time when things were much more simple 👍

  • @mattwebb6056
    @mattwebb6056 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    She visited my school when I was younger (around 1998) to give a talk in an assembly

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That's so cool! Wonder if she still does anything like that today!

  • @henryjameswalker2995
    @henryjameswalker2995 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Excellent video. Full of information and superbly created. Fantastic 👏👏

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thank you very much Henry! Glad you enjoyed it and found it informative 😁

  • @kektuss
    @kektuss 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    It’s always good to hear about Life on Mars

  • @matthewpayton
    @matthewpayton 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Test card F. Carole Hersee is a legend

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      She certainly is!

  • @RebeccaPhythian
    @RebeccaPhythian 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This was so interesting! A great AMTV documentary 🤩👏🏻❤

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I'm so glad you found it interesting my love! 😁 thank you for watching ❤

  • @AnthonyChara
    @AnthonyChara 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thanks for your videos - like a treasure trove, still working through your back catalogue. Oh and thanks for the credit in your end caps too Adam👍🏽

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      A pleasure Anthony! Glad you enjoy the videos 😊

  • @titanictotired
    @titanictotired 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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! 👏 👏 👏

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Thank you so much Hux! Thank you for your support and sticking by the channel!

    • @titanictotired
      @titanictotired 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@AdamMartyn No problem Adam, I'll be sure to stick around in the future!

  • @atthebridge
    @atthebridge 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The music was recorded specifically for the test card broadcast. There used to be a bunch of enthusiasts who'd record it and share it.

  • @NTSCuser
    @NTSCuser 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

  • @80schick
    @80schick 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Congrats on your thousand video Adam. I grew up seeing the test card, but didn't know anything about it, so your doco was very informative.

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you so much! Really glad you enjoyed it! 😁

  • @tomblack6965
    @tomblack6965 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks for coming aboard Tom! Always happy to provide good doses of nostalgia 😊

  • @AidanMillward
    @AidanMillward 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That effing clown scared me senseless as a kid.

  • @MrGeoffHilton
    @MrGeoffHilton 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

  • @brucedanton3669
    @brucedanton3669 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    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!

  • @pauldiffin4726
    @pauldiffin4726 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Fab. Cheers.

  • @dfluff
    @dfluff 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    You might be interested to know that the testcard shown at 16:05 is not Testcard W, but is an early "we need something..." modified version of F. It's missing the extra arrowheads at the side and has the F version of the picture in the middle with the over saturated clown and with the same framing as F that crops out the clowns hand holding the chalk. The proper version of W (as seen at 15:25) came along a few months after the unofficial wide version of F.

  • @isabellaangeline2175
    @isabellaangeline2175 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    As an American, I’ve gotten to know that test card from watching “The Quiz Broadcast” episodes of That Mitchell and Webb Look here on TH-cam. I highly recommend it for those who have never seen it as it’s so good. Peep Show as well.

    • @jctoad
      @jctoad 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Life on Mars is where I discovered it.

  • @rogerdarthwell5393
    @rogerdarthwell5393 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I'm so sorry I missed the premiere but I love this doc anyway! Excellent job Adam!

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks Roger! Glad that you enjoyed it! 😁😁

    • @rogerdarthwell5393
      @rogerdarthwell5393 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@AdamMartyn Thank you Adam!

  • @jezwilde2376
    @jezwilde2376 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    There is something of the Mona Lisa with that enigmatic smile. I wonder if that had any influence on its iconic status and longevity?

  • @g2macs
    @g2macs 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    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.. .. .

  • @PredictedCyborg
    @PredictedCyborg 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    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

  • @WoofInationXP
    @WoofInationXP 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    your videos are well made, please keep up this quality

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Thanks pal! I'll certainly aim to!

  • @jesseblack5812
    @jesseblack5812 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    i love the documentaries!

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Thank you! I have a lot of fun making them!

  • @lucythecbckidsfan8200
    @lucythecbckidsfan8200 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Pinky And The Brain did their own version of Test Card F with Pinky as the girl and The Brain as the clown doll in an episode of the second season of the Animaniacs reboot.

  • @wisteela
    @wisteela 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

    • @AdamMartyn
      @AdamMartyn  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thank you so much! I never got chance to access the Test Card on the old Freeview box!

    • @wisteela
      @wisteela 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@AdamMartyn It may still work if you can get hold of a really old one.

  • @angiebone7324
    @angiebone7324 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I recently made a Test CARD F recreation and it looks the same as the original. Nice vid btw, I loved it

  • @ConStormENT
    @ConStormENT ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Nice Work