What is the V-Chip?

The Television Rating System is a combination of a broadcast signal embedded into the programming and a hardware device that enables or disables viewing of that programming on the television set equipped with that hardware. The Rating System, shown in the Flash clip below, identifies any content that should be age-restricted for various reasons.

Picture courtesy of the Physics Department of the University of Delaware.

The V-Chip is a firmware device built into all television sets 13 inches or larger built since 1999. The chip reads information encoded in the signal of rated television programs and blocks viewing of programs on that television based upon the rating restrictions programmed into the chip by the parent, allowing for effective control of the content of the programs that the television set is allowed to show, presumably to younger children.