LOS ANGELES (AP) — People wanting to automatically mute the foul language in “Seabiscuit” or skip the violence in “The Patriot” have a new option — a DVD player from RCA that filters content deemed objectionable.
Thomson, which owns the RCA brand, will sell the players in some Wal-Mart and Kmart stores as well as on Wal-Mart’s Web site starting this month.
“I think there may be a market for something that gives the parent more control and does it in a way that doesn’t alter the original presentation,” said Dave Arland, an RCA spokesman.
The filtering software is from ClearPlay, which had offered it previously for watching DVDs on computers and began talking to RCA last year about a stand-alone player.
“The reality is people have pushed the limit so far, that there are people who want to have that kind of control,” Mr. Arland said.
The DVD player carries a suggested retail price of $79 and will ship with 100 filters for movies such as “Daredevil” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”
Filters for newer releases are available each week through a monthly subscription of $4.95, though getting them into the player is cumbersome. The filters are downloaded over the Internet and burned onto a CD for transfer to the DVD player. ClearPlay’s library contains filters for about 500 movies.
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