Bell & Howell test patterns

This page is dedicated to cataloging the numerous test pattern types used by Bell & Howell and its successor entities for over 40 years.

Test pattern types

 * Black screen, 500 Hz tone
 * Black screen, 875 Hz tone (slow clicking)
 * Black screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Lime screen, 400 Hz tone
 * Lime screen, 975 Hz tone
 * White screen, 400 Hz tone
 * White screen, 875 Hz tone (slow clicking)
 * White screen, 875 Hz tone (medium clicking)
 * White screen, 875 Hz tone (fast clicking)
 * White screen, 950 Hz tone
 * White screen, 975 Hz tone
 * White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * White screen with red letterbox bars, 1000 Hz tone
 * White screen, 1000 Hz tone (clicking)
 * White screen, 1025 Hz tone
 * White screen, 1125 Hz tone
 * White screen, 1175 Hz tone
 * From 1988 to 1996, many tapes had a white screen test pattern (with optional red bard until 1989) and/or a closing black screen with a moaning sound.

Pre-1984 test patterns
Tapes duplicated at Bell & Howell before Q4 1984 (i.e. before the 40th week of 1984) had a wide variety of test patterns. Tapes confirmed to not have test patterns are listed in the next section. If you don't know what test pattern is on a tape, or whether or not such a tape had a test pattern, list it here without any additional info apart from the name of the releasing company and the year of release; if you can 100% confirm such a tape did not have a test pattern after all, move it to the next section. Also, for Disney tapes, check if the bottom of the square label says "Fotomat Drive-Thru Movies" instead of "For Rental Only, Not for Sale" or "For Sale Only, Not Intended for Rental" before moving anything, because if it says "Fotomat Drive-Thru Movies", it was definitely duplicated at Bell & Howell.


 * 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * The Adventures of Chip and Dale (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * Airplane! (Paramount Home Video, 1981) - White screen, 1125 Hz tone
 * Airport (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1981) - White screen, 875 Hz tone (slow clicking)
 * Alvarez Kelly (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1980) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * The Amazing Spider-Man (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1981) - White screen, 1175 Hz tone
 * American Gigolo (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - Black screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * American Graffiti (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * The Andromeda Strain (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1981) - White screen, 875 Hz tone (slow clicking)
 * Apocalypse Now (Paramount Home Video, 1981)
 * The Apple Dumpling Gang (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * April Wine: Live in London (Thorn EMI Video, 1981)
 * Barbarella (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Battlestar Galactica (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980) - Black screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * Benny Hill's Video Revue (Thorn EMI Video, 1981)
 * The Black Hole (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * The Boat (RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, 1983) - White screen, 975 Hz tone
 * Breakfast at Tiffany's (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * The Bridge on the River Kwai (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1981)
 * Can't Stop the Music (Thorn EMI Video, 1981)
 * Cat Ballou (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1981)
 * Charlotte's Web (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Chinatown (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1980)
 * Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * The Day the Earth Caught Fire (Thorn EMI Video, 1981) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Death Machines (VCI Home Video, 1983)
 * Death on the Nile (Thorn EMI Video, 1981) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * The Deer Hunter (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980) - Black screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Dracula (1979 version) (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980) - White screen, 1125 Hz tone
 * Emmanuelle (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1980)
 * ''Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Escape from Alcatraz (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - Black screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Escape to Witch Mountain (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * Flash Gordon (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980) - White screen, 1125 Hz tone
 * The Four Seasons (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1981) - White screen, 875 Hz tone (fast clicking)
 * The Front (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1982) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Getting Wasted (VCI Home Video, 1983)
 * The Godfather (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * The Godfather Part II (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Goin' South (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Grease (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Hardcore (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1982) - White screen, 400 Hz tone
 * Harold and Maude (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - Black screen, 500 Hz tone
 * Hatari (Paramount Home Video, 1983) - White screen, 950 Hz tone
 * Heartland (Thorn EMI Video, 1981)
 * Heaven Can Wait (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Hot Lead and Cold Feet (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * The Hunter (Paramount Home Video, 1981) - White screen, 1125 Hz tone
 * I Am a Dancer (Thorn EMI Video, 1981) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Jaws (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980)
 * Jaws 2 (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980)
 * Jesus Christ Superstar (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980)
 * Kids Is Kids (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * The Killers (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1981) - Black screen, 875 Hz tone (slow clicking)
 * The Last Married Couple in America (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1982) - White screen, 400 Hz tone
 * Little Darlings (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - White screen, 400 Hz tone
 * The Longest Yard (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * The Lord of the Rings (Thorn EMI Video, 1982)
 * Masada (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1981) - White screen, 875 Hz tone (slow clicking)
 * Melvin and Howard (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1981) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1982) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Murder on the Orient Express (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - White screen, 875 Hz tone (slow clicking)
 * North Dallas Forty (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * On Vacation (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Thorn EMI Video, 1982)
 * Pete's Dragon (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * Play It Again, Sam (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * The Professionals (RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, 1983) - White screen, 400 Hz tone
 * Queen: Greatest Flix (Thorn EMI Video, 1981)
 * Rockshow (Thorn EMI Video, 1982)
 * Romeo and Juliet (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - White screen, 875 Hz tone (medium clicking)
 * The Royal Wedding (Thorn EMI Video, 1981)
 * S.O.S. Titanic (Thorn EMI Video, 1981) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Same Time, Next Year (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Scars of Dracula (Thorn EMI Video, 1981)
 * Schizoid (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1981) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * The Seduction of Joe Tynan (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980) - Black screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1981) - Black screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * The Shootist (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - Black screen, 500 Hz tone
 * Slap Shop (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980) - Black screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Smokey and the Bandit (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980) - Black screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (Thorn EMI Video, 1981)
 * Spider-Woman (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1982)
 * Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - White screen, 1125 Hz tone
 * Star Trek Vol. 1: The Menagerie (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - Black screen, 500 Hz tone
 * Star Trek Vol. 2: Amok Time/Journey to Babel (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Star Trek Vol. 3: Mirror, Mirror/The Tholian Web (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Star Trek Vol. 4: The Trouble with Tribbles/Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Star Trek Vol. 5: Balance of Terror/The City on the Edge of Forever (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Sunset Boulevard (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Taxi Driver (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1982) - White screen, 400 Hz tone
 * The Ten Commandments (Paramount Home Video, 1980) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * Thank God It's Friday (RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, 1983) - White screen, 400 Hz tone
 * Three Days of the Condor (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Times Square (Thorn EMI Video, 1981) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * To Kill a Mockingbird (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1981) - White screen, 875 Hz tone (slow clicking)
 * The Tubes Video (Thorn EMI Video, 1981)
 * Victor/Victoria (MGM/UA Home Video, 1982) - White screen, 1000 Hz tone
 * The War of the Worlds (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * The Way We Were (RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, 1983) - White screen, 400 Hz tone
 * When Worlds Collide (Paramount Home Video, 1981) - White screen, 1125 Hz tone
 * Which Way Is Up? (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980)

Pre-1995 Bell & Howell tapes without test patterns
This list does not include tapes that have the moaning sound but no white screen test pattern.


 * The Bad News Bears (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * The Betsy (Allied Artists Video, 1978)
 * Chaplin's Art of Comedy (Allied Artists Video, 1978)
 * Crossroads (RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, 1986)
 * The Crying Game (Live Home Video, 1993)
 * The Electric Horseman (MCA Videocassette, Inc., 1980)
 * Field of Dreams (MCA/Universal Home Video, 1992)
 * The Fisher King (Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1992)
 * Foul Play (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * In Cold Blood (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1982)
 * The Love Bug (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * The Man Who Would Be King (Allied Artists Video, 1978)
 * Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie (FoxVideo, 1994)
 * The Next Man (Allied Artists Video, 1978)
 * Nobody's Perfekt (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1982)
 * The North Avenue Irregulars (Fotomat Video, 1980)
 * The Odd Couple (Paramount Home Video, 1980)
 * Papillon (Allied Artists Video, 1978)
 * Popeye (Paramount Home Video, 1981, post-1984 printings)
 * Quantrill's Raiders (Allied Artists Video, 1978)
 * Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (Allied Artists Video, 1980)
 * Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (Allied Artists Video, 1980)
 * This Man Must Die (Allied Artists Video, 1978)
 * The Three Stooges Vol. 1 (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1980)
 * The Three Stooges Vol. 3 (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1981)
 * The Three Stooges Vol. 4 (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1982)
 * The Three Stooges Vol. 5 (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, 1982)
 * Tickle Me (Allied Artists Video, 1978)
 * The Woman in Green (Allied Artists Video, 1980)