V-Chip Parental Controls
The V-Chip Parental Controls menu allows you to program your TV so that children cannot see certain programs.
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 program is blocked. Change channel or press DISPLAY to enter password,” 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.
