American scientists have developed a new technology that can censor all potentially offensive scenes of a movie, making it watchable with children at home.
The patented technology — an electronic film filter called the ClearPlay system — can be integrated into the next generation of DVD players to skip and mute content based on seven categories that can be set to meet viewing preferences. These included violence, blood, nudity, sex, swearing, blasphemy and offensive content, the Daily Mail reported.
Many films, especially those that are rated 15, lend themselves to such treatment because their rating is based on only one or two brief scenes which can be edited without spoiling the rest of the movie.
Andrew Duncan, the head of ClearPlay International, said: "We know from our research that parents are concerned about inappropriate content but don't like conflicts around censorship at home. Our system effectively ends the important but tiresome debates."
DVD players with ClearPlay technology will be on sale in the UK in July, but households can now download it online for a cost of about £1 a week. Filters will be available for hundreds of films already out and will be ready for new films within 48 hours of their DVD release. Players that can use the new technology will be about the same price as current machines.
The company says the sort of films the system will work with include 'Love Actually', 'Atonement', 'The Matrix and Sweeney Todd'. All contain scenes which ClearPlay bosses say can be edited without ruining the whole film.
The system has been developed by a team of American scientists which had earlier invented VideoPlus, the system which simplified recording of television programmes.
ClearPlay director Skip Riddle said: "Clearly there are some films that don't lend themselves to filtering but the vast majority do. Often the aspects of a film that give it a 15 certificate are connected with a few very short sequences."
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