The AutoLock™ feature can help par- ents control what their children watch
on TV. AutoLock™ does this by using the content advisories sent by broadcasters or other program providers. After you program AutoLock™, it can respond to the content advisories and block pro- grams that contain content that you may consider objectionable—offensive lan- guage, violence, or sexual situations. You can also use AutoLock™ to block chan- nels that you don’t want your children to watch.
In this section, you’ll learn how to block channels and programming that is not rated, is unrated, or has no rating. You will also find out how to turn these block- ing features on or off. Following on this page are brief explanations of AutoLock™ terms and program ratings.
Terms
BLOCKING control—can be thought of as the “master switch” for AutoLock™. This control affects the set- tings you have chosen for blocking pro- grams according to movie ratings or TV ratings, or for blocking programs that have no rating or are unrated. When the BLOCKING control is OFF, the blocking or censoring of programs is disabled. When the BLOCKING control is ON, blocking will occur according to the set- tings you have chosen.
BLOCK UNRATED control—if set to ON, blocks all unrated programs.
Unrated programming consists of the kind of shows that the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) or the TV broadcasters have chosen not to rate.
NO RATING control—if set to ON, blocks all programming with no content advisory data.
Programming that has No Rating is not encoded with any rating information from the MPAA or the Parental Guidelines. Any programming could fall into this category.
BLOCK CHANNEL control—enables you to block individual channels that you don’t want children to see.
AutoLock
MOVIE RATING
PG
PG-13
R
NC-17
MOVIE RATINGS
(MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA)
G (General Audience)—all ages admitted. Most parents will find pro- grams that are rated G to be suitable for children of all ages. Such programs have little or no violence, no strong language, and little or no sexual dialog or sexual situations.
PG (Parental Guidance
Suggested)—contain material that par- ents may find unsuitable for younger children. Programs that are rated PG have one or more of the following: moderate violence, some sexual situa- tions, infrequent coarse language, or some suggestive dialog.
PG-13 (Parents Strongly
Cautioned)—contain material that par- ents may find unsuitable for children under the age of 13. Programs that are rated PG-13 have one or more of the following: violence, sexual situations, coarse language, or suggestive dialog.
R (Restricted)—specifically designed for adults. Anyone under the age of 17 should view programs that are rated R only with an accompanying parent or adult guardian. Such programs have one or more of the following: intense vio- lence; intense sexual situations; strong, coarse language; or intensely suggestive dialogue.
NC-17 (No one under the age of 17 will be admitted)—should be viewed by adults only. Programs that are rated NC-17 have graphic violence; explicit sex; or crude, indecent language.
X (Adults Only)—contain one or more of the following: very graphic violence, very graphic and explicit or indecent sexual acts, or very coarse and intensely suggestive language.
AutoLock
TV RATING
TV-Y7
TV-G
TV-PG
TV-14
TV PARENTAL GUIDELINES
(TV BROADCASTERS)
TV TV-Y (All Children)—designed to Y be appropriate for all children,
especially ones ages 2–6. Programs rated TV-Y are not expected to frighten younger children.
TV TV-Y7 (Directed to Older
Y7 Children)—designed for children ages 7 and older. Programs rated
TV-Y7 may be more appropriate for chil- dren who have acquired the development skills needed to distinguish between make-believe and reality. Such programs may include mild fantasy and comic vio- lence (FV).
TV TV-G (General Audience)—mostG parents will consider programs that
are rated TV-G to be suitable for children of all ages. Such programs have little or no violence, no strong language, and little or no sexual dialogue or sexual situations.
TV TV-PG (Parental Guidance PG Suggested)—contain material that
parents may find unsuitable for younger children. This type of program- ming has one or more of the following: moderate violence (V), some sexual situ- ations (S), infrequent coarse language (L), or some suggestive dialogue (D).
TV TV-14 (Parents Strongly
14 Cautioned—contain material that many parents will find unsuitable for children under 14 years of age. Such
programs have one or more of the follow- ing: intense violence (V); intense sexual situations (S); strong, coarse language (L); or intensely suggestive dialogue (D).
TV TV-MA (Mature Audience Only)— MA specifically designed to be viewed by
adults and therefore may be unsuit- able for children under 17. Such programs have one or more of the following: graphic violence (V); explicit sexual situations (S); or crude, indecent language (L).
