Below are a few excerpts from a terrific UK site by Darren Meldrum TV Test patterns
from around the world. Darren's site includes test patterns from the BBC, Australia, Singapore, Ireland, Sweden, North America and lots more.
Probably the most famous American B&W test
pattern is the so-called "Indian Head" monoscope
pattern. This pattern was originated by RCA in
1939; it was designed to be generated using a special
tube called a monoscope, a CRT which had a metal
plate target on which the pattern was printed. The
black lines of the pattern would interrupt current flow
as the pattern was scanned to provide the desired
video output. These tubes could only handle black
and white - no shades of gray hence they had to be
simulated either with a halftone dot pattern or with
patterns of fine lines.
This NBC test pattern is dated 1947 but actually
dates back
to 1941, when commercial TV broadcasts began in
America.
This is the 16:9 PAL version of the Philips PM5644 test pattern as used by BRT,
the Dutch-language Belgian broadcast organization.
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