DVD Player Filters Out Nudity, Violence

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

(11:56 AM ET) (15:56 GMT)

By Josh Wilcox

Cable News Network Writer

"This is new technology. It's going to take a while for the industry to get comfortable with it."

The ClearPlay DVD player can cut scenes or mute certain parts of a movie considered offensive.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Wal-Mart Stores

CNN
The world's biggest retailer is offering a DVD player that slices out potentially offensive content from movies, such as nudity, violence and foul language.

The device, available at Wal-Mart for about $70, merges video-editing technology developed by ClearPlay with an RCA brand DVD player.

The DVD player works by cutting scenes or muting parts of the movie, according to guidelines from ClearPlay's staff of editors, said ClearPlay CEO Bill Aho.

"This gives you virtually unprecedented control over movies," Aho said. "You can decide what you want to see and what you don't, and the end result is something that is seamless."

Using a checklist of 14 categories, ranging from graphic violence to explicit drug use, buyers can skip over any scenes they deem inappropriate while leaving the rest of the movie intact.

With these filters, it can appear the offensively branded parts never existed.

(More: CNN.com / Technology)

2003 © Cable News Network LP, LLLP.

Dan