ClearPlay introduces first content filtering 1080p upscaling DVD player
By Darren Murph 
posted November 30th 2009 4:36PM
posted November 30th 2009 4:36PM
posted November 30th 2009 4:36PM
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And how does this work.
@kris120890
So it involves a membership and a usb stick.
@kris120890
You take some pixels, make space between them and interpolate the new empty space with the mid value of the nearby pixels.
Its better than just clean scaling but will only improve gradients alike.
@kris120890 You have to download the filters from for the movies you want to watch onto the included USB stick, put the USB stick in the DVD player, then when the movie starts you choose the level of filtering that you want applied. It then knows at exactly what times to cut the sound, or skip forward a bit, etc.
@kris120890 It skips portions of the movie or mutes audio over the offending bits. It is for people who are happy to watch bowlderized versions of movies. Lazy religious parents who can't be bothered to supervise their kids must be a core audience for this product.
high quality tities!
@Greasy McNugget
except not
Just as a test I want to play the most horrible movie I can think of through this and see how much footage I'm actually allowed to see.
@(Unverified): Yeah, but where are you going to find an actual copy of "From Justin to Kelly" on DVD? I thought they were all destroyed.
@(Unverified) got the alley-oop
@(Unverified): HE'S ON FIRE!
@(Unverified) Don't worry, I'm sure you can still find copies of Twilight.
So, no point in a BluRay player? Maybe not.
@Special Agent Steve
Maybe not no point, or actually no point?
DVD up scaling does some (but not much imo.) to extend the life of an aging technology.
Rip your dvds to your computer and leave physical media behind. It's about time.
@LeJay
Hey, I'm all about ripping DVDs. It's the only reason I even have Linux on my PS3 (it's a lot faster at this than my laptop). I've got over 100 movies on my usb drive plugged into my PS3, too. I stream movies all the time.
but for the amazing sound quality and picture that my system is capable of (and it's even that great a system), I need to use blu-rays. Until I can download 20 gbs in a few minutes... well, until most people can download 20 gbs in a few minutes, blu-ray is the best way to get the best movie quality.
If you don't care that much about audio and picture, and I think for most films this is a valid compromise, then indeed streaming and hard drives are the best way. I'm glad I have the choice... my PS3, not that it's perfect or anything, is a pretty convenient solution for all of these methods, from divx to dvd to h.264 to blu-ray to netflix streaming or even using that PSN store (it's too slow sometimes).
My parents had a box that would look at subtitles and mute the audio for curse words. It actually worked really well, but only input and output analog audio.
@(Unverified)
best part about your box is if you know how to make back-up dvd's you can just rip out the subtitles lol what does it do then?
will it play those movies or not?
Blocks objectionable content?
I guess it blocks The Hills, Family guy and Apple commercials...
besides HD pron is nasty... you see everything... EVERYTHING! eww
If it's blocking Family Guy, it's blocking Windows 7 commercials, not Apple commercials.
So silly! All this does is butcher's the writer's / creator's intent. Why not blackout parts of the Bible? Hey mom n dad, hate to break it to ya but junior is all over the porn tubes!!
@(Unverified) No one forces you to get this. If you don't want it, that's fine. But there are a lot of people out there that don't like a lot of the unnecessary sex, violence, and swearing that is thrown into movies these days. This allows you to watch a lot of great movies while blocking those things. But once again, only if you want it. If you like your movies as-is then don't buy one :P
@nerdherd
This device isn't for great movies. Great movies don't have anything unnecessary in them.
I have the older non HD version of this. The content filtering is great. The build quality was ok. They definitely need a version that supports Blu-Ray, a version for watching dvds on the computer, and a version that will work with streaming content like Netflix.
@FlynJets
Hows life in your bubble?
@FlynJets
I remember reading somewhere that clearplay is close to producing a final product that will enable filtering of video on demand through cable providers.
Great product.
Here is a video of the technology in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9sqF8qn1zM
Now, if only they'd figure out how to substitute a decent movie for a real stinker. For example, let's say I pop in 'Howard the Duck'. After 10 seconds of analyzing the movie, the player automatically switches to the Netflix software and starts playing 'Citizen Kane'.
@Spiny Norman
I've never seen 'Howard the Duck,' but I thought 'Citizen Kane' was waaay overrated. Old rich guy loves sled, what's the big deal?
so instead of any 'normal' interaction between males and females, all little timmy will be exposed to is the nightly primetime litany of torture, serial killers, murder, rape, abduction ... ON FREE television.
One step closer to not having to ever spend time with your children! Set it, and forget it!
Ayyyee mmphh a mmmppphhhhmmm mmphhmmmrrr!
(That's the sounds of a person with their head in the sand shouting I am a Christian warrior!)
Upconverting dvd, Love the idea. Is it really comparable to blu-ray? Maybe. For all my purposes, I'll be sticking with dvd for the time being. Blu-ray is too expensive. And, who ever wrote the blog for this article deserves best writer of the week!
@(Unverified) Upconverted DVD is not comparable to blu ray. Not even close in most cases. BD players can be had for $100 and are backwards compatible so they are not expensive either.
@(Unverified) BD discs costs way more than dvds. DUHH thats the real money churing part. 1 dollar rental for dvd. 10 dollar rental for bd?
It's hard to believe that there is so little acceptable content out there that parents are reduced to letting their kids watch movies that must be filtered. Is there really any quantity of acceptable genre with unacceptable language? If this isn't for lazy parents that don't want to seek out acceptable content for their kids and monitor what they watch (even cable box channel blocking and V-chipping seem reasonable in this case) I cannot help but imagine dad blindfolding little Billy so he can take him for some quality father/son time at the gentleman's club.
@holtcg
What about when you are not home, or if the player is in the kid's room or the den, or when you just aren't looking over the shoulder of your kid every second of every day because you recogonize their need for occasional privacy and to have the opportunity to make their own choices that are within the bounds you have deemed appropriate for their maturity level?
What about films like Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, any WWII movie in general, Shawshank Redemption, Slumdog Millionaire, Braveheart, Full Metal Jacket, Hotel Rawanda, and other movies that tell an important story about an unfortunately cruel world?
I don't know how configuarble the settings are, but this kind of thing might be useful in selecting out the bits of movies that you don't want your 12 year old to see, and then dialing down the exclusions to what you feel might be approipriate for a 15 year old, and finally no restrictions.
Obviously, this could be misused just as TV in general is misued as an electronic bbysitter, but there is certainly an appropriate place for such a device as this in some households.
ClearPlay.
Because reading rating guidelines and having common sense it just too much hard work gosh darn it.
These DVD upscalers are stupid. The main reason why alot of DVD players don't display images at their full potential is because they're pushing analog signals which are only 420i. These upscalers bascially do the same as Blu-Ray players, which play DVDs. Since the Blu-Ray players put out with HDMI and/or component video, component video which can put 1080i with the right hardware.
I've seen these in action and they are actually pretty cool. You download a blacklist database. You can set different levels of control for sex, violence and language. Using the databases timecode, it'll skip ahead of naughty bits and mute cuss words (if you have it set up like that). Is as loose or restrictive as you want it to be.
It's not all about "the children" either. Some seniors don't want violence, but could care less about language or sex. It's giving viewers choices, I think. I know a couple people who just don't want to expose themselves to R-rated movies, but miss out on the social pop culture aspect because they haven't seen a certain movie.
@NavParker I think Pulp Fiction without the "what" scene would suck; there's swearing and violence, but without it, the film is missing something.
@NavParker
Is there a setting that will allow it to *add* sex and violence? I gotta believe that watching The Muppet Movie with a few head shots would be worth spending $99.
Will it double censor the mosaics in my Japanese adult videos?
I thought Engadget writers would know that 1080p DVD upscaling =/= high definition. There's a reason why Blu-ray and HD-DVD were developed (aside from trying to get you to re-buy your movie library).
Best advice I can give to people is this.... if a film is going to offend you with its content then don't watch it. If you don't want your kids to watch it then keep it away from them. This is why we have ratings systems with descriptions of why the film has its particular rating. Hence if you find nudity offensive then you know ahead of time. But NO NO NO we now need to have our players play censorship for us since apparently we are becoming too lazy to think for ourselves.
All you snide negative people need to take a laxative. I don't own this product but the point is it's a product that you can buy or you can not buy. Why all the heavy aggression towards it and anyone who might want to buy it? Like any product, some people may use it inappropriately or foolishly, but I believe the majority of people buying it would use it appropriately. What's your beef with that? Get a life!
I have the non-upscaler version. I have a 12-yr old son who enjoys Westerns and Action flicks. We watched Die Hard during the weekend and it was awesome !
For those who complain ... remember that in-flight movies are screened in a similar fashion ... and you don't seem to mind !
@vulcanman so true, so true.