James Delahunty
30 Jan 2007 19:57
A patent application submitted by Matthew T. Jarman of Salt Lake City seeks to filter out foul language "on the fly" from being heard from your TV set. The system described, which uses a computer and a PVR, monitors the closed captioning that comes with most programs for obscene words. Users can select what they want blocked and if it comes up, the system will briefly mute the TV to spare the viewer from hearing it.
The settings are protected by a user ID and password. Additionally, the PVR had a mentioned method where it could determine if the use of a word is for a good or bad reason, like "bitch" for example, which can be insulting to hear, but not if it refers to a dog.
User preferences can also be used to block out entire channels or specific programs with the use of keywords for example. This differs from the V-Chip in that it allows viewers to enforce blocking between programming with the same rating.
However, since there is quite often a delay in the audio playback and closed captioning system, and the patent describes no way to get around this problem, you have to wonder if such a system (blocking obscene words on-the-fly) will actually work in practice.
Source:
Ars Technica