Old Test Patterns-IDs From Print - '50s-'60s

From the MSTS1 Collection, an MSTS1 Video.
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-WPIX-11, WABD-5, WCBS-2, WNBT-4, WNBQ-5, WABC-7, DuMont, NBC, RCA, Philco, Indian-Head, ABC, CBS, WEWS-5, WBAP-5, WHIO-13, KMJ-24, WJZ-7, WNHC-8, WFIL-6, WPTZ, KFEL-2, KDKA-2, XEW-2, CHCT-2.
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New York
Chicago
Cleveland
Dayton
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
Wyndmoor
Fresno
Fort Worth
Canada
Cuba
Mexico

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Old
• TV
• New
• York
• Cleveland
• Dayton
• Pittsburgh
• Philadelphia
• Fresno
• Fort
• Worth
• Test
• Pattern
• WPIX
• WCBS
• DuMont
• Philco

[TomBarristerX]

Thanks for uploading these. Some may date back to the mid 1940's and perhaps earlier.

[MSTS1]

@TomBarristerX - Glad you like them. The collection of these came from the 50s + 60s, but it is possible that some actually originated earlier in the 40s..

[pantyflash]

Like, lovely test patterns. Are they available on VHS or DVD and if so, could you tell us how to obtain them? Then, we can cherish them for all time to come. Way to go, babe!

[MSTS1]

@pantyflash - Thanks for that-! Not available other than here. But if I ever decide to re-cut this as a full-frame for DVDs, I'll make it known..

[duncombepat]

Great job again MSTS! :) This is a blast from the past when there was such a thing as test patterns!

[MSTS1]

@duncombepat - Thanks- glad you like it :)

[OldcarsNmusic]

@dougiezerts If you're weird then I've gotta be weird with you. WKEF-22 in Dayton was my sign-on hangup; WKRC-12 in Cincinnati for sign-offs.

[HiVisionary1125]

A number of these images appear to be illustrations of failure modes of TV sets or reception, similar to some I have in old books on TV servicing. The vignetting is a bit extreme, if you ask me, especially in the case of the more distorted images, which have their central portions partly outside the frame.

[dougiezerts]

When I was a kid, I used to get up early in the morning just to watch stations go on the air! Weird, eh?

Now stations are 24 hours, or else they show infomercials all nigh.

[spacemouse1]

Do you know what the name of this song is ??

[wmbrown6]

@kyle1081 - Actually, the layout of the KG2XCL test pattern seems to date to c.1949-50. At least three NBC stations - WNBT (later WRCA, now WNBC) Channel 4 in New York, WNBQ (now WMAQ) Channel 5 in Chicago, and WNBK Channel 4 (later moved to Channel 3, changed calls to KYW and then WKYC) in Cleveland - had TP's for a few years after 1949 with the typesetting info as laid out that way. The difference being that on those stations, the lower right quadrant said "RCA Television System."

[kyle1081]

I think a couple of these, like the KG2XCL at 0:49 date back to the mechanical televisions in the 30s. 

[TomBarristerX]

The first two, from CBS and NBC affiliates, were from the early 1950's. The third of the NBC peacock, is from the early 1960's.