If you have been following RF Report you probably know that the Second Period Review Report and Order on the DTV transition requires broadcasters to start including program ratings in PSIP next years, with DTV set manufacturers being required to include a "V-chip" to decode the ratings soon afterward. You may not know that Canadian company Tri-Vision International holds a patent for the "V-Chip". An article in the Canadian publication Business edge says V-chip creator Tim Collings believes the company "will likely see a dramatic increase in sales when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) new rules take effect starting in 2006." Collings says, "We are the only company that possesses a patent for technology that fits into the new (FCC) standard. We've got a pretty solid case. We're hoping to get 100 per cent of the market in the U.S."

In the article Collings acknowledges the V-chip has enjoyed limited success in analog TV sets and he offers some suggestions on how to make V-Chip technology easier to use.

For more information, see the article Local Inventor hope for windfall with digital TV - New standards called boon for B.C. firm by Beverly Cramp.