Using the TV’s Features
48
Chapter 3
Parental Controls and V-Chip
The
Parental Controls
menu allows you to program your TV so that children
cannot see certain programs, channels, or use the front panel controls.
The first three choices in the
Parental Controls
menu involve software inside
your TV (referred to as V-Chip) which allows you to block TV programs and
movies based on violence, sex, or other content you may believe children
should not view. In other words, it lets you program your TV so it won’t display
certain programs.
Once you block programs, you or other adults can unblock programs by
entering a password.
By default, the software inside your TV is turned “off,” so if you don’t want to
use this feature, you can just ignore it.
How V-Chip Works
When turned “on,” the V-Chip software reads a code that most broadcasters
send with programs. That code tells the software the program’s age-based rating
(TV-MA, TV-14, etc.) and content themes [(Violence (V), Adult Language (L),
etc.)]. If you have blocked the rating and/or content themes that the program
contains, you will receive the message, “This channel is not approved for
viewing,” when you tune to that particular channel.
Broadcasters are not required to provide content themes, so programs received
with no content themes will only be blocked if you block their age-based
rating. You can also block out programs that have been given a rating of “Not
Rated,” and programs that are considered “unrated” because no code has been
sent by the broadcaster. The TV age-based ratings and content themes you can
block are listed in the following table.
TV MAIN MENU
1 Audio
2 Picture Quality
3 Screen
4 Channel
5 Time
6 Parental Controls
7 GUIDE Plus+ Menu
8 Setup
0 Exit
PARENTAL CONTROLS
1 V-Chip TV Rating Limit
2
V-Chip Movie Rating Limit
3
V-Chip Unrated Program Block
4 Channel Block
5 Front Panel Block
6 Lock Parental Controls
0
Exit
