tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post157543017069046388..comments2024-03-26T13:44:31.435+00:00Comments on Curious British Telly: I Found a BBC Engineering Test and Attempted to Break it DownBen Rickettshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01749284122022718064noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-20355406734424058032023-07-19T07:07:31.631+01:002023-07-19T07:07:31.631+01:00I’ve always been interested in what the Cold War B...I’ve always been interested in what the Cold War BBC “attack warning” broadcast would look like (not the Peter Donaldson post-attack script). A Wikipedia edit says “ There was a claim by Jim Aitken that "Attack warning tapes were distributed during the 1980s to every radio and TV station in the UK, with Peter Donaldson providing the voiceover. This was accompanied by strong flashes of light on screen and 'dalek' music (presumably a dirge by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the same style as the 'Protect and Survive' theme)." Is this test tape part of a test of these sort of images to get viewer attention? I would also be interested in any evidence of such a 1980s prepared inject.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-17136744694749631102018-12-22T11:54:28.736+00:002018-12-22T11:54:28.736+00:00There were two periods of overnight engineering te...There were two periods of overnight engineering test in the late 80s/early 90s - one was for nicam stereo and the other was encryption testing for the short-lived BBC Select service. I'm fairly sure that this is the latter - even though this broadcast is in the clear, if memories are correct it was encrypted at other times. The quick-fire selection of diverse images was to put the encryption through its paces. I think. :)Philhttp://www.none.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-54632610378410752282018-11-18T11:58:51.152+00:002018-11-18T11:58:51.152+00:00Very odd indeed! It reminds me slightly of the Num...Very odd indeed! It reminds me slightly of the Number Stations that used to broadcast coded messages. Liamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07842280958926301778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-84713335399383163452018-07-16T14:41:53.340+01:002018-07-16T14:41:53.340+01:00Thanks for the info, that's some good searchin...Thanks for the info, that's some good searching. Someone on Twitter had alerted me to the origins of the '80s couple' but not the tree. Good to understand a little bit more about the footage. Ben Rickettshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01749284122022718064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-17462378813280682792018-07-16T14:40:20.964+01:002018-07-16T14:40:20.964+01:00Yes, turns out they're probably from a late 80...Yes, turns out they're probably from a late 80s Blue Peter episode which had a Russian theme going on. Ben Rickettshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01749284122022718064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-952857226542687612018-07-16T02:02:40.626+01:002018-07-16T02:02:40.626+01:00There will be a proprietary BBC watermark embedded...There will be a proprietary BBC watermark embedded in the recording, which will reveal the exact time of broadcast and the channel. Decoding the watermark is a different matter...Darren Storerhttp://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/papers/pdffiles/ibc00ajm.pdfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-64931014246205636202018-07-15T23:37:07.855+01:002018-07-15T23:37:07.855+01:00The 9th still (the tree) is another EBU test slide...The 9th still (the tree) is another EBU test slide, again mentioned in the above BBC R&D report. The author explains on p. 14 that the tree slide contains much fine detail, making it suitable for testing luminance resolution and cross colour. David Hugginshttp://www.oasis-recordinginfo.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-29500717258194875752018-07-15T23:30:26.780+01:002018-07-15T23:30:26.780+01:00Fascinating clip. Thanks for sharing. I did a bit ...Fascinating clip. Thanks for sharing. I did a bit of searching on this and found that the shot of the couple is an EBU slide, rather than a still from video footage. The shot was designed to show up PAL decoding artefacts such as cross-colour and dot crawl. These would be triggered by the fine monochrome detail on the couple's clothing. <br /><br />This BBC R&D report (published February 1980) gives some details on how the "Couple" slide was used to evaluate an experimental "clean PAL" system. Page 14. <br /><br />https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/rdreport_1980_01David Hugginshttp://www.oasis-recordinginfo.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-87622498011556200362018-07-15T23:09:25.417+01:002018-07-15T23:09:25.417+01:00Brilliant find. Could be Percy Thrower in the gard...Brilliant find. Could be Percy Thrower in the garden as well.Ashton Archerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03602220791602418384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-45621427302492528262018-07-15T22:41:48.964+01:002018-07-15T22:41:48.964+01:00Amazed and amused - I think the triangular guitars...Amazed and amused - I think the triangular guitars are balalaikas, which would suggest a Russian band (the costumes and the accordian would tend to agree, I think)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com