![RCA Indian Head Test Pattern](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/RCA_Indian_Head_Test_Pattern.svg)
The Indian-head test pattern is a
test card
A test card, also known as a test pattern or start-up/closedown test, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast (often at sign-on and sign-off).
Used since the ea ...
created by
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
of
Harrison, New Jersey
Harrison is a town in the western part of Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark, New Jersey, and is located from New York City.
As of the 2 ...
, which became the standard image of the RCA TK-1
monoscope. It features a drawing of a
Native American wearing a
headdress
Headgear, headwear, or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, d ...
and numerous graphic elements designed to test different aspects of broadcast display. The card was introduced in 1939 and over the course of the
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
television broadcasting era was widely adopted by television stations across North America.
As television broadcasting ritual
![Radio-Head-of-Gothenburg-Nils-Dahlbeck-Vintage-photo-352373202991](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Radio-Head-of-Gothenburg-Nils-Dahlbeck-Vintage-photo-352373202991.jpg)
The Indian-head test pattern became familiar to the large
baby boom
A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds of defined national and cultural populations. People born during these periods are ofte ...
TV audiences in America from 1947 onwards; it would often follow the formal
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ea ...
sign-off
A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonwealth countries exce ...
after the
United States national anthem
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...
. The Indian head was also used by the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governmen ...
(CBC) in Canada in conjunction with its own monochrome test pattern, following the
Canadian national anthem sign-off in the evening, and during its final years in the late-1970s and early-1980s it was shown before sign-on in the morning, after the showing of the
SMPTE color bars
SMPTE color bars are a television test pattern used where the NTSC video standard is utilized, including countries in North America. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) refers to the pattern as Engineering Guideline ...
. It was also used by
Rhodesia Television
Rhodesia Television (RTV) was a live-broadcast, television station operating in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) as a private company. It was established on the 14th of November, 1960, first in Salisbury (now Harare), with transmissions in Bul ...
(RTV) during British colonial times (varying between
Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a r ...
and
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing colony, self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The reg ...
) following the playing of "
God Save the Queen
"God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...
" at closedown. This test pattern was later used by the Venezuelan TV channel
Venevision, in conjunction with the
RMA Resolution Chart 1946, until the late-1970s before signing on with the
Venezuelan national anthem.
Telesistema Mexicano
Telesistema Mexicano was the predecessor of Televisa. Telesistema Mexicano was a television alliance made up of the independently owned television flagship stations XEW-TV, XEW Canal 2, XHTV-TV, XHTV Canal 4, and XHGC-TV, XHGC Canal 5 in Mexico, D ...
(now
Televisa
Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content.
In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...
) stations also used this test pattern until the late-1960s immediately after playing the
Mexican national anthem
The "Mexican National Anthem" ( es, Himno Nacional Mexicano, nah, Mexihcaletepetlacuicalt), also known by its incipit "Mexicans, at the cry of war" ( es, Mexicanos, al grito de guerra), is the national anthem of Mexico. The anthem was first u ...
at sign-off. In the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
, the Indian-head pattern was used by its public broadcaster
Corporación Estatal de Radio y Televisión (CERTV) in the late-1960s and 1970s (in conjunction with the
EIA 1956 resolution chart
The EIA 1956 Resolution Chart (until 1975 called RETMA Resolution Chart 1956) is a test card originally designed in 1956 to be used with black and white analogue TV systems, based on the previous (and very similar) RMA 1946 Resolution Chart. It ...
test card) after playing the
National Anthem of the Dominican Republic
The national anthem of the Dominican Republic ( es, Himno nacional de República Dominicana), also known by its incipit Valiant Quisqueyans ( es, Quisqueyanos valientes), was composed by José Rufino Reyes y Siancas (1835–1905), and its lyrics ...
at sign-off. In
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
the Indian head was used in test transmissions from the
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolog ...
in Stockholm alongside the RMA Resolution Chart 1946, Telefunken T05 test card, as well as other experimental test cards from
Televerket and
Chalmers University of Technology
Chalmers University of Technology ( sv, Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international le ...
from 1948 until November 1958 when it was replaced by the Sveriges Radio TV (now
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksdag (national ...
) test card.
Saudi Broadcasting Authority
The Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA), formerly Saudi Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) and the Broadcasting Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (BSKSA), is a governmental entity of Saudi Arabia, organized under the Ministry of Media. BSKSA ...
in Saudi Arabia also formerly used a modified version of the Indian head test pattern, with the
Emblem of Saudi Arabia
The Saudi Arabian national emblem ( ar, شعار السعودية) was adopted in 1950. According to the Saudi Basic Law, it consists of two crossed swords with a palm tree in the space above and between the blades.
The two swords represent t ...
replacing the Indian head drawing, from 1954 until 1982 when it was replaced with a heavily modified
Philips PM5544
The Philips PM5544 is a television pattern generator, most commonly used to provide a television station with a complex test card commonly referred to as a Philips Pattern or PTV Circle pattern. The content and layout of the pattern was designed ...
test card. The Indian head was also used in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
by
Rede Tupi
Rede Tupi (; in English, Tupi Network) was a Brazilian television network free-to-air. Its parent broadcaster, located in the city of São Paulo, was the first TV station to operate in the country, being inaugurated on 18 September 1950 by jo ...
, both as a test pattern and
as part of a television ident, from its launch in 1950 until it became the first Brazilian television network to adopt colour television in 1971–1972. The Indian head pattern was also used by
Kuwait Television
Kuwait Television is Kuwait's official state-run television station, and part of the Kuwaiti Ministry of information.
Kuwait Television has 9 channels and a satellite channel: KTV1, KTV2, KTV Sport, KTV Sport Plus, KTV Kids, alQurain channel, A ...
in
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...
from its launch of television services in 1961 until it adopted colour television in the mid-1970s.
The Indian-head pattern could variously be seen after sign-off but while the station was still transmitting; while transmitting prior to a typical 6a.m. formal
sign-on
A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonwealth countries exc ...
; or even during the daylight morning hours on newer low-budget stations, which typically began their broadcast day with midday
local programming
The terms local programme, local programming, local content or local television refers to a television program made by a television station or independent television producer for broadcast only within the station's transmission area or televisio ...
around 10 or 11a.m.
[ "Every television station, prior to its actual broadcasting period, transmits a test pattern for the purpose of permitting set owners to adjust their receiver controls for optimum reception." The article also states that ]television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...
ming (in 1949) was only a few hours each evening. The Indian-head test pattern was built into the RCA "monoscope" tube, a 2F21, which acted as a complete replacement for the TV camera.
From the late-1950s the test pattern gradually began to be seen less frequently, after fewer sign-offs, on fewer stations, and for shorter periods in the morning, since new and improved TV broadcast equipment required less adjusting. In later years the test pattern was transmitted for as little as a minute after sign-off while the transmitter engineer logged required
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
-US/
Industry Canada
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED; french: Innovation, Sciences et Développement économique Canada; french: ISDE, label=none)''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal I ...
transmitter readings before cutting power.
By the end of the Indian-head TV era in the late-1970s/early-1980s, there was no nightly test pattern on stations where automatic logging and remote transmitter controls allowed shutdown of power immediately after the formal sign-off. After an immediate transmitter power off, in lieu of the Indian-head test pattern and its sine wave tone, a TV viewer heard a loud audio hiss like
FM radio
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...
interstation noise and saw the
video noise. Audio and video noise received on Indian-head era TV sets respectively indicated the absence of analog aural and visual broadcast carriers. Home-use TVs typically did not have a no-signal noise muting and blanking feature until the late analog TV period.
When
US broadcasters switched to color television, the
SMPTE color bars
SMPTE color bars are a television test pattern used where the NTSC video standard is utilized, including countries in North America. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) refers to the pattern as Engineering Guideline ...
largely superseded the black-and-white test pattern image although a few station owners employed colorized versions of the NBC/CBS "bullseye" test pattern, in some cases lasting until as recently as the early 1990s.
Generation
The Indian-head test pattern was not generated by pointing a camera at a card, as many older test patterns were. Rather, it was generated directly as a monochrome video signal by means of a
monoscope tube, a specialized
video camera tube
Video camera tubes were devices based on the cathode ray tube that were used in television cameras to capture television images, prior to the introduction of charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors in the 1980s. Several different types of tubes ...
with the pattern built into the tube.
An RCA TK-1 test pattern generator (monoscope) is a
19-inch rack
A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or "ears" that protrude from each side of the equ ...
-mounted
chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
, which contains a monoscope tube
housed inside an anti-magnetic steel shield and associated electronic circuits for driving it. The monoscope tube is constructed similarly to a small
cathode ray tube
A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms ( oscilloscope), pictu ...
(CRT), but instead of displaying an image, it scans a built-in image, producing a video signal. The tube has a perfectly proportioned copy of the test pattern master art inside, permanently deposited as a carbon image on an aluminum target plate or slide. This perfect copy allowed all of the
television studio
A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the production of live television and its recording onto video tape or other media such as SSDs, or for t ...
and
production control room
The production control room (PCR) or studio control room (SCR) is the place in a television studio in which the composition of the outgoing program takes place.
The production control room is occasionally also called an SCR or a gallerythe latte ...
video monitor
A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form (the latter used for example in tactile electronic displays for blind people). When the input information that is supplied has an electrical signal the ...
s, and home
television set
A television set or television receiver, more commonly called the television, TV, TV set, telly, tele, or tube, is a device that combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers, for the purpose of viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or using ...
s, to be identically adjusted for minimal distortions such as ovals instead of circles. When the monitor or TV set was correctly adjusted to show test pattern circles, the received picture's
aspect ratio was exactly four units wide by three units high.
Use
The graphic of the Indian and all of the patterns on the chart served specific purposes. With the chart, many typical daily (sometimes hourly) adjustments on cameras, home, and studio monitors could be made. An experienced broadcast engineer could glance at the drawing of the Indian Chief and quickly know if everything was working correctly or if more careful adjustment was needed. Within the chart, the tools necessary to adjust perspective, framing, linearity, frequency response, differential gain, contrast and white level (brightness) are all provided. The grid and circles were used for perspective, framing and linearity. The tapered lines (marked with 20, 25, 30, and 35) were used for resolution and frequency response. The thin lines marked from 575 to 325 on one side and 300 to 50 on the other side referred to lines of resolution. The gray bands emerging from the center off to the lower right and upper left were for differential gain, contrast, and white level.
Only after the monitors were adjusted was an actual Indian-head test pattern used. A cardboard mounted lithograph of the test pattern was typically attached to a rolling vertical easel in each TV studio, to be videographed by each studio camera during test time. Then the cameras were adjusted to appear identical on picture monitors, by alternately switching between and comparing the monoscope image and the test card image. Such adjustments were made on a regular basis because television system electronics then used hot
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied.
The type kn ...
s, the operating characteristics of which drifted throughout each broadcast day.
Test patterns were also broadcast to the public daily to allow regular adjustments by home television set owners and TV shop repair technicians.
In this regard, various features in the pattern were included to facilitate focus and contrast settings, and the measurement of resolution. The circular "bullseyes" in the centre and the four corners permitted uniform deflection yoke and oscillator amplitude adjustments for centering,
pincushioning, and image size.
The test pattern was usually accompanied by a 1,000 or 400
hertz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...
sine wave
A sine wave, sinusoidal wave, or just sinusoid is a curve, mathematical curve defined in terms of the ''sine'' trigonometric function, of which it is the graph of a function, graph. It is a type of continuous wave and also a Smoothness, smooth p ...
test tone, which demonstrated that the TV aural receiver was working. If the tone was pure-sounding rather than a buzz or rattle, then transmitted speech and music would not be distorted. 400 Hz is somewhat less annoying for technicians to hear for extended work periods.
As a cultural icon
![Pattern extracted from a physical PM5644](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Pattern_extracted_from_a_physical_PM5644.png)
An actual Indian-head test card, the pattern as printed on art-grade white cardboard, was only of secondary importance to television system adjustment, but many of them were saved as souvenirs, works of
found object art, and inadvertent
mandala
A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...
s. By contrast, nearly all of the hard-to-open, steel-shielded, vacuum glass monoscope tubes were junked with their hidden Indian-head test pattern target plates still inside. The monoscope target plates were also small, a few inches in size, while the camera test cards were , appropriate for picture-framed wall display.
The original art work for the Indian chief portrait was completed for RCA's research engineers by an artist named Brooks on August 23, 1938. The original portrait was done in pencil, charcoal, ink and
zinc oxide
Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white powder that is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, food supplements, rubbers, plastics, ceramics, glass, cemen ...
. For about a year said portrait was televised in the laboratory as the entire test pattern. Only from 1939 onwards was said portrait incorporated into the current pattern of calibrated lines and shapes. The original portrait measures across as a circular image containing several identifiable shades of gray, and some detail in the feathers. There is also some
Zone 8 texture in the white feathering and some
Zone 2 texture in the black hair. The master art for both the portrait and the pattern design was discovered in a dumpster by a wrecking crew worker as the old RCA factory in Harrison, New Jersey was being demolished in 1970. The worker kept the art for over 30 years before selling it to television engineer and collector Chuck Pharis.
The Indian-head test pattern became obsolete in the 1960s with the debut of
color television
Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...
; from that point onward, an alternate test card of SMPTE color bars (and its immediate predecessors), or colorized versions of the NBC/CBS-derived "bullseye" patterns became the test card of choice. Since the 1990s, most television stations in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
have broadcast continuously without regular sign-offs, instead running
infomercial
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
s, networked overnight news shows, syndicated reruns, cartoons, or old movies; thus, the broadcast of test patterns has become mostly obsolete (though they are still used in post-production and broadcast facilities to check color and signal paths). Nevertheless, the Indian-head test pattern persists as a symbol of early television. A variant of the card appeared on theatrical release posters for
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
's 1989 film ''
UHF''. It was sold as a night-light from 1997 to 2005 by the
Archie McPhee
Archie McPhee is a Seattle-based Novelties, novelty dealer owned by Mark Pahlow. Begun in the 1970s in Los Angeles as the mail-order business Accoutrements, in 1983 it opened a retail outlet dubbed "Archie McPhee" after Pahlow's wife's great-u ...
company, reminiscent of the times when a fairly common late-night experience was to fall asleep while watching the late movie, only to awaken to the characteristic sine wave tone accompanying the Indian-head test pattern on a black-and-white TV screen. The test card also featured in the opening sequence of the early 1960s science fiction anthology ''
The Outer Limits''.
Many U.S. television stations chose the image of the Indian-head card to be their final image broadcast when their analog signals signed off for the final time between February 17 and June 12, 2009, as part of the
digital television transition in the United States
The digital transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of terrestrial television programming. According to David Rehr, then president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, t ...
.
In October 2022, a 4:3 monochrome test card that resembles the Indian-head test pattern was discovered in an
EPROM
An EPROM (rarely EROM), or erasable programmable read-only memory, is a type of programmable read-only memory (PROM) chip that retains its data when its power supply is switched off. Computer memory that can retrieve stored data after a power s ...
chip Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genom ...
of a
Philips PM5644 PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
generator
Generator may refer to:
* Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals
* Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
* Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...
purchased by a British television repairman from a European scrap dealer.
Notes
References
External links
* – rescued from an RCA dumpster in 1970
*Picture and detailed description of a
RCA TK-1 test pattern generator (monoscope)mire.project– Street art work about test patterns
{{standard test item
Broadcasting
Interstitial television shows
Native Americans in popular culture
Television presentation
Television terminology
Test cards