Test Film

a film designed for testing and adjusting motion-picture film printers and projectors during their manufacture, operation, inspection, and repair.

Test films contain frames with test charts, crosshatched and radial test patterns, and optical or magnetic sound tracks. They are used to monitor the sharpness and stability of the image in contact and optical printing of copies and to determine the position of the projected image relative to the screen, the magnification and sharpness of the image, and the dynamic qualities and resolving power of the projection equipment. They are also used to find the range of fluctuation of the speed of the film in the film gate, the gain factor of the sound channels, and other lighting, sound-engineering, and mechanical indicators that characterize the operating quality of motion-picture equipment.

(In the USSR, a punched steel strip 0.15 mm thick, which is used to adjust the position of the pull-down claws relative to the film gate, is also called a test film.)