Test Card W is a test card

Test card

A test card, also known as a test pattern in North America and Australia, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast...

, an image used to determine the quality of a broadcast television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 picture. It is an updated 16:9 (1.78:1) widescreen

Widescreen

Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....

 version of Test Card F

Test Card F

Test Card F is a test card that was created by the BBC and used on television in the United Kingdom and in countries elsewhere in the world for more than four decades...

, which was created by BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 George Hersee

George Hersee

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.Hersee was born in Sussex, England...

. Test Card W is similar to Test Card J

Test Card J

Test Card J is a test card, an image used to determine the quality of a broadcast television picture. It is an updated version of Test Card F, which was created by BBC engineer George Hersee, and is used to test analogue television signals...

, the latter being a 4:3 version. Both appeared for the first time in November 1999.

The colour-bars on the top and right of the image are the full 100 percent saturation version, unlike Test Cards F and J which use the 95 percent type. Extra mirrored arrow-heads on the central axis at the sides mark the positions of the middle 4:3 and 14:9 sections of the image.

As television is usually broadcast 24 hours a day, the test card is now rarely used. The last known occasion that this card was broadcast on British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 screens was Friday 9 January 2004, when early morning tests were carried out on BBC One

BBC One

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 and BBC Two

BBC Two

BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

. BBC Two still closes every weekday morning between 4.00 and 6.00 and during Educational Holidays, but pages from Ceefax

Ceefax

Ceefax is the BBC's teletext information service transmitted via the analogue signal, started in 1974 and will run until April 2012 for Pages from Ceefax, while the actual interactive service will run until 24 October 2012, in-line with the digital switchover.-History:During the late 60s, engineer...

 rather than test cards are broadcast on these occasions.

Sightings

The last occasion that Test Card W was broadcast on BBC One and BBC Two was Friday 9 January 2004. The times before that were for a few minutes on 3 December 2003 on BBC Two during the 2003 tests; seen for around 20 minutes during Pages from Ceefax time from about 02.20 on 22 June 2003; a brief appearance in the early in the morning of 14 August 2001 in a programme gap; on BBC One between 03.00 and 04.00 on 27 July 2001 (while BBC Two was on reduced power); and during the August 2000 BBC rebroadcast test. Test Card W flashed up briefly on BBC1 early in the morning of Tuesday November 3, 2009 during the opening credits to BBC breakfast news

On Freeview in the United Kingdom, Test Card W can be viewed at any time on most Freeview boxes.

External links

• A history of the card
• The Test Card Circle Details of the UK's Trade Test Transmissions including the history of the BBC and ITA Test Cards, a look at the music used and full details about the Trade Test Colour Films shown from the late fifties to 1973.