BBC test card makes a digital comeback

Carole and the HD testcard
Carole and the HD testcard

The BBC has brought back the test card as it looks to aid the digital switchover rolling out across Britain.

The iconic clown and eight-year-old girl card is being drafted back into active service, as an aid to those viewers retuning their sets for after the digital switch.

The old image, first broadcast on 2 July 1967 and featuring Carole Hersee, has been remade in high definition, and will add to its 70,000 hours of screen time until 2012, when the final switchover is completed.

Rescanned in HD

Andy Quested of the BBC said: "The HD version uses the very famous picture of Carole, rescanned in high definition and added to an HD version of the widescreen test card.

"I hope we can all celebrate its reappearance after many years."

Hersee's father George was the BBC Engineer who designed the card; she is now a 49-year-old mother of two.

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.