Talk:Indian-head test pattern

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Why is there an Indian head on it?

So why is there an indian head on it? That's the most interesting question. Postdlf 05:31, 9 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I'm more interested in whoever drew it. -96.225.163.38 (talk) 05:01, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

An artist named "Brooks" drew it. It's in the article.

He might be traceable through very old phone books, or a city directory if he didn't have a phone. There's a lot people named Brooks, but probably only one of them was an artist who lived in the Harrison, New Jersey area in 1938. Milo 09:08, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Its still being used.

for the local cbs station in anchorage alaska, they still use this test pattern, I think this is the only station in the world that still uses it.

I dont know if they're using it right now, but from the time I lived there (I moved in 2004) they were still using it.

And yes, I'd like to know why its an indian head as well. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.154.214.252 (talk) 09:24, 11 December 2006 (UTC).[reply]

Newtek

Added historical note for Newtek's use in the Video Toaster product. I used the Video Toaster 2000 (and still have a VT Flyer 4000), and I am guilty of inserting the IHTC into my productions (along with the quintessential 'clapboard countdown' and sync pulse).... 137.246.200.49 17:24, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Error in test card graphic

The 50 to 300 and 325 to 575 resolution test scales are not quite right.

Mainly it's the 325 to 575 scale. Being a resolution scale, the lines should get progressively thinner toward the lower (larger number) end of the scale. That doesn't happen at all between 325 and 575, and it happens a bit too much with the 50 to 300 scale (the lines are too thin at the 300 end).

I don't know the source of the graphic, but it would be nice if this error could be corrected as it appears to be perfect otherwise. 76.204.79.214 (talk) 06:01, 9 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You have a good eye. I see it too after comparing TESTPATTERN RCA 3.jpg graphic recreation to the previous image RCA Indian Head test pattern.JPG (when enlarged), and also when compared to the original artwork at the bottom of Chuck Pharis' web page.

Click on any image to find its source. User:Emdub510 linked the current version, TESTPATTERN RCA 3.jpg on 21:57, 17 January 2008, to replace RCA_Indian_Head_test_pattern.JPG . Info at TESTPATTERN RCA 3.jpg says uploader Emdub510 "self-made (redrawn from source art in public domain)".

Another point is that the recreated Indian is too detailed compared to the original master copy, or original "copy ready" artwork above it. The Indian on the original master copy appears to have been ink-outlined to reduce detail. One can just barely see the ink outlines. Milo 08:04, 9 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Copyright issue.

If the image of the test screen was indeed created in 1938 as "made for hire", it will not enter the public domain until 2033. Made for hire works are protected for 95 years. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.35.21.2 (talk) 18:45, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Indian Head Test Pattern is a public domain work because it was published between 1923 through 1977 without a copyright notice. See Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States chart by Peter B. Hirtle at the Cornell Copyright Information Center. Milo 22:06, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The image in the commons is an unauthorized derivative work, which (intentionally or unintentionally) omits RCA's copyright notice. The original carries the mark "© RCA MANUFACTURING CO. INC" on the right hand bottom of the main circle. Please see http://www.pharis-video.com/p2804.htm There is a capture from the original TK-1C by Chuck Pharis that shows the copyright notice. [ 96.35.21.2 23:22, 4 December 2008 (UTC) [1] ][reply]

I assume you have confused the TK-1C video capture image, with the scanned illustration from the TK-1C manual on the next page.

Magnification shows there's no copyright notice in the TK-1C video capture shown on its page: www.pharis-video.com/p2804.htm. Furthermore, there's no notice on the ' "copy-ready" completed artwork', which was used to make the TK-1's 2F21 graphite image anode plates that generate the test pattern video (see it at www.pharis-video.com/p4788.htm (#4 down photo ihtp-8~1.jpg)).

In those days, no notice on a large number of copies meant no copyright.

The manual illustration copyright was unlikely to have been renewed in 1967, when RCA was only three years away from discarding the original monoscope tube artwork along with the vacuum tube factory. Milo 08:25, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I fail to see how the graphic in the manual is not a published copyright. I'm sure that the graphic in the manual carried RCA's mark in all instances of printing, not just some. "Unlikely to have been renewed" is not the same as "has not been renewed". Wikipedia's policy on copy right isn't "Use it until we find out if it's not legal." Perhaps instead of assuming public domain you should contact Thomson SA and request permission or clarification on it's status. 96.35.21.2 (talk) 08:56, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Under 1909 copyright case law, RCA lost their copyright on hundreds of graphite printed on aluminum copies sold without a copyright notice, which were then publicly displayed as they intended by video. 1909-era copyright notices could not be covert, so the copyrighted image in the manual does not protect copies of the public domain video image, or derivatives of the public domain video image displayed in this article. Milo 22:09, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]