Philips PM5544

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The Philips PM5544 is a television pattern generator, most commonly used to provide a television station with a complex test card. It has been in use since the dawn of colour television, and is the most commonly used test card generator, with only the SMPTE bars and the BBC Test Card F coming close to its usage.

The BBC occasionally uses a modified version, Test Card G. Many broadcasters using a 625 line PAL system use some form of the PM5544 test pattern.

Since the PM5544 is geared towards the PAL colour coding system, this test pattern is uncommon among NTSC broadcasters, though some, such as CBFT, CBMT, WBOY-TV and WNYW, have used a 525 line version of the PM5544 in the past [1], [2].

The PM5544 was also in widespread use in Australia for many years, most notably with the ABC and SBS. Some commercial stations also used the PM5544.

A widescreen capable version of the unit, the PM5644, also exists.