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Optical monochrome test card 
Optical colour test card
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 IKE THE UK, France had a non-standard
monochrome television service on bands I and III and then
introduced colour on uhf 625 lines. However, theirs was a
retrograde step in terms of picture quality because the vhf service
from 1950 onwards was 819 lines, replacing the original pre-war 455-line and post-war 441-line Eiffel Tower transmissions which closed in 1955.
There was something of a free-for-all during the 1950s when private concerns set up their own relay stations to bring pictures to more viewers, but these were eventually brought under the control of the authorities.
When the second channel started in colour, relay
stations for the first channel were also added on uhf, though on
819 lines fitted into 625-line channels with a consequent loss of
horizontal resolution. Following the introduction of the third
channel, FR3, programmes from TF1 were radiated in 625-line SECAM
colour during non-FR3 programme hours, pending the introduction of
a dedicated first channel network on System L 625/50. In 1981-84,
the vhf network was converted to 625-Line Standard L working, giving
France a single standard again.
  This optical test card, which had several
variations of the centre design including a colour picture,
contains graticules with resolutions of up to 900 lines, as shown
in the detail on the left. The horizontal resolution of the System
E 819-line standard was 600 lines per picture height, or 800 lines
per picture width (see "A Note About
Resolution"). The horizontal resolution of the System L uhf
819-line pictures was 360 lines per picture height (the same as the
System A 405-line pictures).
Apart from the optical card with colour pictures in the centre,
ORTF (Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision
Française) also used an electronic colour chequerboard
pattern and the PM5544 for its colour services, which later
included a third channel.
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ERE ARE some test cards from continental
Europe and elsewhere that were used around the same time as the
UK 405-line examples. Some are
off-screen shots of signals received here in Sheffield in the late
nineteen sixties and early seventies whilst others are scanned from
cuttings that I collected for identification purposes.
Some of the off-screen photographs of
UHF reception were taken from production sets - a Ferguson 19-inch
dual-standard receiver and a PYE 22-inch colour receiver rather
later. Other UHF and all VHF reception were photographed from
either a 12-inch PYE 405-line receiver of 1950 vintage converted
for 625-line VHF operation or a home-brew 20-inch 625-line only
receiver constructed in 1970 from a design published in Practical
Television magazine and converted for VHF/UHF operation.
IRSTLY, HERE is a collection of 'standard'
test cards and patterns that were designed and published by
equipment manufacturers and trade associations around the world.
Many broadcasters used one or other of them in preference to
commissioning their own designs.
HIS FIRST one is the SMPTE (Society of
Motion Picture and Television Engineers) test card mainly used on
525-line transmissions, though its resolution wedge calibrations
are valid for any line standard. It was also used by Ethiopia and
the United Kingdom. There's a full technical description of the
SMPTE test card on 
ARCONI RESOLUTION Chart Number 1 was so
successful that they never needed to release a sequel... It was
used in Libya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Colombia, Australia and
Jordan.
LTHOUGH IT was designed for 405 lines, Test
Card C was used by a surprising number of 625-line countries,
including Libya, Mauritius, Jamaica, Trinidad And Tobago, Brazil,
United Kingdom and Singapore. There's a full technical description
of Test Card C on 
ELGIUM, BEING bi-lingual, has two television
services: Belgische Radio en Televisie (BRT) for Flemish speakers
and Radiodiffusion-Télévision Belge (RTB) for
Francophones. What's more, the transmission systems used by the two
services were originally different.
ESKOSLOVENSKA TELEVIZIA has now split into
Ceska Televizia in the Czech Republic and Slovenska Televizia in
Slovakia. The lower test card was a common sight via sporadic E in the 'sixties and 'seventies, and replaced the 1953 version above.
ANMARKS RADIO, like the other Scandinavian
broadcasters, used the optical monochrome Test Card G. Usually the
identification was Danmarks Radio when the card was
originated from the studio in København, or
Televerket when originated by the PTT. In this case it was
being generated and radiated by the transmitter at Fyn. The
monochrome electronic card carrying no identification is generated
by a Philips PM5540 and is the precursor of the later colour
version, PM5544, shown below. It was used extensively throughout
the world.
RISH TELEVISION began in December 1961,
originated on 625-lines, with the pictures converted to 405-lines
using UK channels in areas where BBC and ITV signals were already
being picked up. In fact the service was 405-lines only for six
months until the first 625-line transmitter was opened. There were
no specific 405-line test cards radiated though - just these
625-line ones. The State broadcaster is Radio Telefís
Éireann. During 1978 the 625-line network was slowly
expanded, and the 405-line transmitters began to close, the last,
Letterkenny in Donegal, disappearing on 23 November 1982.
ADIOTELEVISIONE ITALIA (RAI) had two
monochrome networks. Rai Uno was on vhf and Rai Due on uhf, both
using the same 625-line standard. The test cards were inserted
locally, and the top right hand circle used to contain a number
from 1 to 32 to indicate the transmitter.
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EDERLANDSE OMROEP Stichting is the name of
the Dutch broadcasting organisation, with Nederlandse Televisie
Stichting being the tv arm, hence the NTS identification in these
pictures.
NTS was set up in 1951, and programmes began in 1953.
The following organisations contribute to the two
national networks provided by NOS: Algemene Veriniging Radio Omroep
(AVRO), Evangelishe Omroep; Katholieke Radio Omroep (KRO),
Nederlandse Christalijke Radio-Veriniging (NCRV), Omroep Vereniging
VARA, Omroep Vereniging VPRO and Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting
(TROS)
OLISH TELEVISION started in 1954 and was
transmitted from at least two regional centres, in Warszawa and
Katowice, following experimental transmission prior to 1952 on both the 441- and 625-line standards.
