Hidden Info & Testcard on Freeview

By doing the following on a Freeview receiver, you can access hidden information.

1. Select BBCi channel 105
2. When BBCi appears press yellow within 30 secs
3. Select another channel
4. then select BBCi channel 105
5. When BBCi appears press green within 30 secs
6. Wait until the status page appears

I tried that on my Panasonic DVD Recorder DMR-ES20D and got the following information on the Status Page.

Who Am I? (empty box)

Where Am I? Region: W Nation: EN

Get Eng Sup (empty box)

RNd 1789, 72, 2848, 1255, 1635,

BCast Time 2010-12-09 08:53:03

Last Update 2010-12-09 08:52:27 (dtserv3)i970-01-01
1:00:00 - nav.des

ram://bbcautol (empty box)

Help Press GREEN for test card; BLUE for credits

What does all this information mean? Does anyone know?

Pressing GREEN allows you to access Testcard W (BBC Widescreen). Obviously the centre circle is squashed if you view it on a 4:3 TV, and the picture fills the height of the screen. I'm surprised it doesn't appear letterboxed on a 4:3 TV.

I would say wow, but that's been known for years.

Mr Tower, do you actually read other people's posts when they're made and forget them, or do you just read your own posts and ignore any others?

Old news

It is what is called an Easter Egg. Not exactly difficult to research with Google.



It's Test Card W, designed for widescreen, the clue is in its title. Why would anybody want or even need to look at a widescreen test card on a non-widescreen TV? You might as well try and force round pegs in square holes.

Anyway it's an MHEG picture. I'm pretty sure there is no aspect ratio with those transmissions (not like it's essential anyway since most of them simply say "I'm not broadcasting now, come back later").

Not only is it old news but it's old news that Tumbly Wumbly has posted himself before.

So not only does he not read other people's posts but he appears not to read his own either.

I can't be bothered to hunt for the previous offering but I distinctly remember remarking that the data indicated he was in the south region when he last posted, even though he tries to tell everybody that he's in Bath.

Oh, and I don't think Step 2 is required any more on most boxes.

http://www.tvforum.co.uk/forums/post644497/#post644497

Thread Closed.