ClearPlay DVD player filters out the bad parts

A: Such a thing really does exist and it is called ClearPlay. Here’s how it works.

The first thing you need to do is to purchase a ClearPlay compatible DVD player. The DVD players are available at most Target stores or you can buy one online at the ClearPlay web site at www.clearplay.com.

The DVD player is set up just like any other DVD player so there’s no need to worry about any kind of fancy setup.

What you will need to do, however, is to go to the ClearPlay web site to activate your DVD player. You do this by creating a ClearPlay account and then choosing a filter membership. The filter membership is necessary to keep your DVD player up to date with filters for all of the most recently released movies on DVD.

The filter membership will run you about $7.95/month but there are options to pre-pay for one, two or even three years to save some money.

Once you have a filter membership, you can download the entire filter set onto your computer. Once the filters are on your computer you will need to transfer them to something portable such as a USB flash device. You can use your own USB flash device, the ClearPlay USB flash device or even your computer’s built-in CD burner.

The last step is to take your USB flash device and insert it into the ClearPlay DVD player and then follow the instructions on screen to load the filters on to the DVD player.

Now you are all set to watch a filtered movie. You can do this by inserting any DVD you already own into the DVD player. The ClearPlay DVD player will automatically find and load the appropriate filter for the movie.

When you play the movie, the ClearPlay DVD player will automatically skip over questionable scenes and cut the volume on any questionable language.

All of this can be controlled from the settings menu on the DVD player where you can select what parts of a movie you want ClearPlay to filter out and what parts are OK.

This post was originally broadcast Friday, October 5, 2007 on Tech Talk with Noobie, a weekly radio show on WCBK 102.3 FM in Martinsville, Indiana. Tech Talk with Noobie airs every Friday between 11:30 a.m. and noon. If you have a question you would like Noobie to answer on the air, simply e-mail your question to .