Thread: Language filter for dvd player?

Our DVD player died. It had a language filter built in. I've been doing some research and I can't seem to find another that has the same ability. TVGuardian is no longer manufactured and ClearPlay seems to butcher movies. Any recommendations? Or does anyone know where I can buy a DVD player with language filter build in?

Language filter? What's that?

looks like you can still purchase refurbished boxes here:TV Guardian Summary

EDIT: I meant if a movie has edited violence or scenes, then the movie can be choppy. If there's simply language, the audio is muted without interrupting the video.


Just sayin'....movies with language, etc.usually are butchered by ClearPlay. It's pretty difficult to not have the filtered movies come out choppy. I haven't used TV Guardian, but I'm guessing that choppiness can't be avoided there either. I guess it's a price to pay to get bad language out of movies and minds.

Oh, so language filter = bad language filter? I figured but wasn't sure. I've honestly never heard of a DVD language filter.

Yes, they read the closed captioning and block out words or phrases from the audio track.

Oh, that's cool! How then are they so unreliable, i.e. chopping out wrong words and such?

1) closed captioning does not always follow the audio track of a movie
2) Since closed captions to not have timing for every word spoken (just the sentence or phrase) it will typically block the entire phrase rather than just the objectionable word.

I don't agree with the "butcher" comment about ClearPlay...it has helped our family to see some good movies that we'd otherwise have to skip; there are many movies that are good with a few minor exceptions; the primary "show stopper" for me is blasphemy (which I find out about from screenit.com) and Clearplay can take that out of a movie. You can choose the "objectionable content" by category and filter it out and leave it in.

I love our clearplay, and without it, would probably almost throw away our DVD player.

Brian

Originally Posted by George Bailey

I don't agree with the "butcher" comment about ClearPlay...it has helped our family to see some good movies that we'd otherwise have to skip; there are many movies that are good with a few minor exceptions; the primary "show stopper" for me is blasphemy (which I find out about from screenit.com) and Clearplay can take that out of a movie. You can choose the "objectionable content" by category and filter it out and leave it in.

I love our clearplay, and without it, would probably almost throw away our DVD player.

Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the info. How does ClearPlay work? The impression I got is that it essentially just skips those parts where there is objectionable content. So if someone uses vulgarity, it skips just past that point. Is this correct, or is it different? With TVGuardian, the vulgarity is muted and captions are displayed with a "nicer" word. Generally, it works pretty well. How is ClearPlay different?

Originally Posted by jpfrench81

Originally Posted by George Bailey

I don't agree with the "butcher" comment about ClearPlay...it has helped our family to see some good movies that we'd otherwise have to skip; there are many movies that are good with a few minor exceptions; the primary "show stopper" for me is blasphemy (which I find out about from screenit.com) and Clearplay can take that out of a movie. You can choose the "objectionable content" by category and filter it out and leave it in.

I love our clearplay, and without it, would probably almost throw away our DVD player.

Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the info. How does ClearPlay work? The impression I got is that it essentially just skips those parts where there is objectionable content. So if someone uses vulgarity, it skips just past that point. Is this correct, or is it different? With TVGuardian, the vulgarity is muted and captions are displayed with a "nicer" word. Generally, it works pretty well. How is ClearPlay different?

You are basically correct; when there's a swear word, ClearPlay will simply mute it, without replacing it with a captioned word.

I use CC all the time because of low hearing. CC will get off kilter if you FF the movie. That may be why it sometimes is choppy. If you don't FF it should be smooth. The problem doesn't seem to occur with rewinding and you can actually correct the goofiness caused by FF'ing by rewinding a bit.

I am very interested in this type of DVD player. I hope they aren't really hard to find because I want one.

Don't most movies which dare to swear also have violence and/or sexual scenes in them? If not, does the language filter get rid of taking God's name in vain? So it would get rid of d**n but not G-d? Or does it take out both?

I'm sure it depends on the filter, but TVGuardian can filter out blaspheme (assuming the closed captioning is timed correctly).

Originally Posted by OPC'n

Don't most movies which dare to swear also have violence and/or sexual scenes in them? If not, does the language filter get rid of taking God's name in vain? So it would get rid of d**n but not G-d? Or does it take out both?

Well, here's the problem. You can set them to block out certain words, so technically you could get them to block out "God' or "Lord." But then, if someone is speaking of God in a reverent manner the word is still blocked out - the filter only blocks the word, it doesn't understand context.

Personally, I find these things a huge hassle. If I really object to something in a movie, then I just don't watch it, or I'll fast forward over scene if I really want to see the film. (I'm not bothered at all by crass language though, so that's probably why I don't deal with the hassle of it)

-----Added 9/21/2009 at 05:05:40 EST-----

Originally Posted by MontanaBlue

Well, here's the problem. You can set them to block out certain words, so technically you could get them to block out "God' or "Lord." But then, if someone is speaking of God in a reverent manner the word is still blocked out - the filter only blocks the word, it doesn't understand context.

This is true. Though if you are watching a Christian-themed film you can turn the filter off.