Throwback Thursday - The Test Pattern

Do you remember waking up to that annoying tone blaring out of the television at 2 a.m., and the weird bulls-eye and lines on your screen?

This weird design first appeared on experimental television sets in the mid-1930's, It was used to enable engineers, who in the so-called “pre-television” days were the only persons to actually receive broadcasts, to calibrate the extremely small, very crude black and white scans that became the TV picture. These were used to measure and set the contrast controls either at the transmitter or receiver.

The design became synonymous with television stations all over the country until technology made them obsolete.

So today we remember the days of three channels, rabbit ear antennas, and my Throwback Thursday memory, 'The Test Pattern'.

Check out some of the vintage patterns and station sign-offs below.