Method, apparatus and film strip of particular design for rapid test of a film processor

In a method for determining the status of a photographic film processor said method including the steps of

• a. exposing a test pattern on the film to produce, upon development, at least three test areas comprising a high density area, a medium density area and an unexposed base fog area
• b. developing said film in said processor
• c. measuring the density of said high density area portion of the film with a density measuring means in which said film is received to determine if it is too light, or acceptable;
• measuring the density of the base fog area to determine if it is too dark or acceptable;
• measuring the density of the medium density area to determine if it is too light, too dark, or acceptable
• d. logically operating upon the results of step (c) by utilizing said results as inputs to logic circuitry to produce the output indications indicative of the operational status of the film processor,
• the improvement consiting of:
• determining a first reference output signal strength of the density measuring means with no film received therein;
• determining additional reference output signal strengths ratiometrically related to said first reference signal strength, said additional reference signal strengths being indicative of predetermined limits of densities of said film test areas;
• and measuring said film test area densities sequentially with a single density measuring means and comparing the densities measured thereby with said additional reference output signal strengths.