Video test patterns (colour bars)

Summary

The EBU and SMPTE colourbars constructed in SVG with D3.js. See the result here!

The patterns

• Basic colourbars. Full field colour bars, aka EBU colour bars (spec unknown).

• SD colourbars. Based on SMPTE EG 1-1990 (IEEE link).
  Constructed from specs given in this document (page 359, figure 17.5).

• FFmpeg's testsrc
  "testsrc generates a test video pattern, showing a color pattern, a scrolling gradient and a timestamp."

• HD colourbars. Based on SMPTE RP 219-2002 (IEEE link).
  Based on ffmpeg's SMPTE HD colourbars and the diagram in this document (page 5, figure 3).

  • Proportions approximate, I couldn't find public information on this, and buying the spec from the IEEE is USD 120.

Notes

• Not really colour-accurate: most colours are taken from ffmpeg's test patterns, but blacks are fudged to be able to readily see the contrast between the different levels.

• Reference images are located here.

FFmpeg commands to generate colour bars:

• SMPTE SD: ffplay -f lavfi -i smptebars=size=720x576
• testsrc: ffplay -f lavfi -i testsrc
• SMPTE HD: ffplay -f lavfi -i smptehdbars=size=1280x720