System, method, and computer program product for selective replacement of objectionable program content with less-objectionable content

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product is provided for the selective replacement of objectionable content in a program with less-objectionable material. The selective replacement of objectionable content in a program with less-objectionable material is accomplished by applying an encoding process and a decoding process to the audio and/or video signal of the program. The encoding process includes marking potentially objectionable material in the program with replacement information that identifies the type (e.g., audio, violent content, sexual content, etc.) and intensity level (e.g., mild, graphic, extreme, etc.) of the potentially objectionable material using replacement codes. The decoding process includes comparing, during the presentation of the program to the user and prior to outputting the audio or displaying the video, the replacement information to a replacement criterion, which includes user supplied replacement settings, to determine whether replacement of the potentially objectionable content (i.e., audio and/or video) should be performed. If replacement is to be performed, the objectionable content in the program is replaced according to the replacement information which, in the preferred embodiment, identifies the start and duration of the replacement and, for replacement of the video of the program, also identifies the display area of the video to be replaced.