Visual Grand Prix 2003

* Purpose
These prizes were established with the aim of helping promote the home entertainment industry in which visual and sound technologies play a central role. Products embodying outstanding performance, technology and concept are selected every year from all digital audio & visual related products of both domestic and foreign origins manufactured for home entertainment purposes and distributed in Japan.

* Eligible products
Eligible candidates for the prix are consumer products as listed below which were produced and distributed in the Japanese market by manufacturers or importers. Nominated products, whether already or soon to be on the market, should comply with the purpose of these prizes. Unreleased new products shall be eligible if due to be made public by November 17 of this year or put on the market by the end of this year. No existing products already awarded a "Visual (Video) Grand Prix" shall be eligible.

* Product Genres
Display: CRT type TVs(wide screen TVs and high definition & multi-scan monitors), projection TVs, flat TVs(plasma, liquid crystal),Video projectors such as front projecting type(CRT,LCD,D-ILA,DLP)

DＶＤ players: DVD-Video players,DVD-Audio players,SACD multi-channel players

Digital recorders: D-VHS video decks(including S-VHS),DVD recorders(including HDD hybrid models),HDD recorders,digital videocameras(DV,DVD,MPEG)and digital still cameras

Media: Tapes (DV,D-VHS etc.) Disks (DVD-R,DVD-RW,DVD+RW,DVD-RAM.)

Sound: easy home theater systems, speakers systems and subwoofers,multi-channel sound systems(AV amplifiers & processors, multichannel amplifiers etc.)

Home entertainment personal computers: AV personal computers, DVD drives,video boards,sound boards,MPEG2 encoders,media players(streaming,DVD video,MPEG video etc.),software DVD players

Accessories & related systems: cables,insulator,boards,racks,speaker stands,video printers,digital tuners,antennas,screens,multi-scan converter

* Prizes
After the winner of Grand Prix 2003 is selected from each of the above genres, products qualified for the following prizes will also be selected:
・Visual Grand Prix Gold Prize/Silver Prize/Bronze Prize, Special Prize, Accessory Prize
・Home Theater Prize
・Software of the Year Prize

* A panel of judges
Critics affiliated with "AV Review" magazine and leading distributors nationwide Chairman Tomohiro Kaiyama Judges: Hajime Aida, Tsutomu Asano, Chitake Inoue, Hirotsugu Saito, Kazuo Masuda, Ryoichi Matsuyama, Tadashi Yamanouchi, Iori Yoshida,Masanori Hayasi,Takaya Murase and the chief editor of "AV Review" &"Hometheater phile"

* Screening method
From a list of nominees from manufacturers and importers, the winners of genre-specific Grand Prix 2003, three major prizes, special prizes and other prizes will be selected on the basis of evaluation by leading distributors nationwide and the consensus or poll of judges.

* Date of screening
October 30, 2002(Wednesday)

* Announcement
"AV Review No. 106" issued on November 15, 2002, "Hometheater phile Vol.16"issued on December 20,2002,the special edition of "Best Compo 2003" issued in late January 2003, the December issue of "Senka 21" issued on November 25, 2002 and "Phile-web" reported immediately at)