TV Test Card graphics

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Does enyone remember test cards on tv? Who likes them? Has anyone seen one broadcast recently?

There are whole groups of people devoted to collecting test cards, especially old ones from the 40s and 50s. You might start googling until you find a forum. TV stations can run all night without having to power down for transmitter adjustment and maintenance (the original purpose of test cards). So few TV stations run anything. A few stations power down on Sunday night, and do weekly maintenance then, but you're unlikely to catch anything beyond the typical "red-green-blue" pattern with a really annoying tone. Funny story: TV transmitters frequently went on the fritz in the late 70s, when I was very little (4 or 5). One station had a "60s-style" card it aired when the techs tried to fix the problem saying "PLEASE STAND BY". Since I'm aspie, I took this literally, as in "please stand next to your TV set". So I would stand next to the TV set, and not move. My mom finally had to explain it to me.

I like your story nice to hear on someone who remembers seeing test cards broadcast I was too young to see the overnight showings and they had already started all day tv when I was little so I have never seen one broadcast, the closest I have got is putting one up on my tv though the HDMI connection but its not the same, I hope I see one actualy broadcast one day but that looks unlikely.

In the 1980s, many UHF stations frequently went off the air at night. One of my favorite things to do was to catch the end and beginning of their broadcasts. Stations would put up brief announcements of transmitter technical information, coverage areas, etc. Another favorite thing was running American flag and other "patriotic" test cards to the tune of The Star Spangled Banner. Even then, test cards were usually color bars with a station ID, and a really annoying tone. I'm not sure that HDTV stations even go off at night anymore. I know that a lot of UHF stn's were unable to make the transition to HD, especially in areas like New York and coastal California where there were zillions of marginal UHF stn's. It seems that the Big Boys made it, and the Little Guys went out of business. Technical changes have just about killed DXing (trying to pick up weak stn's far from your location, on any band). It's sad that the youth will never know what I knew, radio/TV wise.

You can download a comprehensive set of TV testcard patterns (in MPEG video) to calibrate HD televisions and monitors. Most TVs are sold with terrible default settings suitable for showrooms, next to other TVs. The default settings are not for domestic viewing.

One set of patterns and instructions is here http://www.avsforum.com/t/948496/avs-hd ... alibration