Visual Grand Prix 2001

* 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 & digital broadcasting receivers: CRT type TVs, wide screen TVs and high definition & multi-scan monitors, projection TVs, flat plasma, liquid crystal or PALC type display units, BS&CS digital tuners and BS&CS antenna

Video recorders & players: Video cassette tape, disk & hard disk recorders, DVD players, DV&DVD-RAM cameras and digital still cameras

Memory audio players: SD players, Memory Stick players and other MP3 types, etc.

Media: Tapes (8 mm, DV or VHS) Disks (CD-R/RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, etc.) Memory cards SD, MMC, memory stick, smart media, etc.

Home theaters: Video projectors such as front projecting type, screens, easy home theater systems, AV amplifiers & processors, multichannel amplifiers, line doublers & image processors, speakers systems and subwoofers

Multimedia & networks: AV personal computers, networks and others with video edit applications, etc.

Accessories & related systems: Accessories, cables, video printers，and mains noise filters etc.

* Prizes
After the winner of Grand Prix 2001 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/Blonde Prize, Special Prize, Accessory Prize, Home Theater Prize, Special "Phile-web" Prize and 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 and the chief editor of "AV Review" (A total of 10 judges)

* Screening method
From a list of nominees from manufacturers and importers, the winners of genre-specific Grand Prix 2001, 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 27, 2000 (Friday)

* Announcement
"AV Review No. 94" issued on November 17, 2000, the special edition of "Best Compo 2001" issued in mid January 2001, the January issue of "SENKA 21" issued on December 25, 2000 and "Phile web" reported immediately at http://www.ongen.co.jp)