Mitsubishi, mostly seen in this space with displays for your living room, has finally got some recognition for its display that could be your living room (a subtle yet important distinction). Yes, that's right: the Guinness folks are presenting the scoreboard at Cowboys Stadium with the coveted World's Largest High-Definition Video Display award. Consisting of four Diamond Vision LED video screens (the two main displays measure 72 feet high by 160 feet wide while the end-zone displays are 29 feet high by 51 feet wide), this bad boy is suspended 90 feet above the center of the playing surface and might prove something of a "punt magnet." To celebrate, the Engadget editors are going to take another stab at the Publication With The Most Editors Sporting Beards Made Of Bees award. Huffington Post, it's on! Full PR below.

It's not necessarily on the level of Yankee Stadium's jetstream, but the new Dallas Cowboys stadium has its own problems. The massive HDTV strung up over the field was hit by a punt during the first NFL game played there last night. So far, by the rules that will result in a do-over, while owner Jerry Jones says there are no plans to move the screen and he doubts anyone will hit it during the regular season. Check the video evidence embedded after the break, somehow we doubt this is the last time this happens.

We love the NFL in HD, and have often wondered why we've paid $300 for the NFL Sunday Ticket in HD, and then spend 90 percent of the time watching the RedZone Channel. So you can imagine how excited we were to hear that thanks to the NFL renegotiating its contracts with DirecTV, Fox and CBS; that the RedZone channel would be available to every provider in the US instead of just to DirecTV Sunday Ticket subscribers. But the more we learn about the new channel, the more annoyed we felt. There is just something fundamentally wrong about a full time cable channel that only broadcasts 119 hours out of the 8760 hours a year. This is especially true when you realize that this is the very same 119 hours a year when the existing NFL Network broadcasts almost nothing at all. There simply is no other reason then pure greed to have two separate NFL channels. So as much as we'd love to enjoy this channel during the season, we completely respect all the providers out there refusing to sign a carriage deal -- Comcast is the only one that wil carry it at the moment -- at least until the two channels are combined, and then the programming can't get here soon enough.

When there is one sport far and away more popular than any other, its no surprise that everyone wants to get in on the action. Case in point, almost twice as many people tuned into watch a pre-season scrimmage NFL game on Sunday night than did to watch two of the most popular MLB teams play each other in a race to the playoffs. The newly formed United Football League (UFL) is hoping to cash in on some of those fans. The league consists of four teams and thirteen games (including playoffs) that will be broadcast in HD on Versus and HDNet starting on Saturday October 10th. While we'd rather see a new spring league formed, we can't ever get enough football so we'll be tuning in to check it out in the hopes that it makes it to a second season. Although we do question any league that would purposely schedule games against Saturday night college football.

Read - NFL Preseason Ratings vs MLB
Read - UFL Schedule
Read - HDNet to carry UFL games.

Forget all the fights and accusations, the NFL Network and Comcast have reached an agreement that will see the channel moved from the sports tier to its Digital Classic level by August 1, available to almost 2/3 of the company's subscribers. Also coming to cable bound NFL fans? Video on-demand content and Comcast will have the "ability" to offer the no longer exclusive NFL Redzone Channel when it launches. No word on what this means for any other operators but we wouldn't be surprised if this deal is just the first of several providing wider access to NFL Network. Now, just to see how much our cable bill jumps in the fall to know the real cost of this addition.

It took long enough, but we've finally got video (embedded after the break) of the giant 159 x 72-foot 1080p displays facing each sideline of the new home of the Dallas Cowboys, playing back some highlights of a game vs. the Colts. We've seen the specs and the mockups of Mitsubishi's huge DiamondVision screen, but suddenly things look very different when the camera pans down and one realizes exactly how large these displays are. Once we've confirmed the stadium isn't built by the same guys that put together the team's practice bubble, we'll be making plans to head down and catch a game. Eat that, Dolphin Stadium.

[Thanks, Yaggs]

As you already know, the NFL Network's contract with Comcast expires tonight, and while the two fight it out over where the channel belongs, on basic cable or a sports tier, it's been threatening to leave the cable company's lineup altogether. Not quite at the 11th hour however, comes word from the Comcast Voices blog that the two are still trying to work things our and due to currently "productive discussions" NFL Network will stay on Comcast systems for now. It'll still be some time be some time before their court case has a ruling, but we're sure your voice on the matter has already been heard.

Sure, ESPN's been taking advantage of widescreen to cover the NFL Draft, but it's still a bit surprising that the 2009 Draft Weekend is the first one ready for HDTV, getting beaten to the punch by the WNBA. Check out the picture above for a quick comparison of the 2008 screen (bottom) to the new 2009 compression format (top), shot in HD and better able to take advantage of the 16x9 frame. Also new for '09? If you haven't noticed already, Todd McShay's gone all CNN on us with a "perceptive pixel touch screen" to swipe around player stats and draft possibilities, along with 21 remote cameras following potential draftees on both days. Check the gallery for bigger versions, then resume your 5th mock draft of the day, unfortunately for us, it probably won't include the Detroit Lions doing the smart thing and picking an offensive lineman first.

Hopefully in a deal that works out better than the Yankees new jetstream-enabled ballpark, Sony has signed up as the official HDTV of the Dallas Cowboys, and will be planting more than 3,000 LCDs throughout the facility. The entire system featuring 19- to 70-inch monitors is IPTV and RS-232 controlled and operators from the control room (once again, Sony-kitted) can throw any information or video on any display at a moment's notice. Of course, it's going to be tough for even a 70-inch monitor to distract fans from the main attraction, but if they are, they'll be looking at a Sony.

Ever since FSN made it's 24/7 HD for 2009 proclamation futbol fans have wanted to know if that applies to them too, and the Goal soccer blog on the New York Times has the news on what to expect as the UEFA Champions League comes to Fox. Fox Sports International VP David Sternberg let it be known that Fox Soccer Channel isn't going to be high definition until the end of this year, so don't expect any FSC games in HD until February 2010. The good news? After the wait, we can expect broadcasts of proper HD feeds, rather than upconverted widescreen SD feeds seen sometimes on ESPN.They do plan 16 live games on FSN, plus the 2010 final on FX, while broadband viewers can expect streaming from Setanta, so if FSC isn't on your lineup yet, there can still be some HD of the Beautiful Game in your future.

This Hatfield & McCoy-like dispute has been going on for years now and it might be ready to come to a head. In case you haven't seen the ads, the NFL Network could leave Comcast altogether May 1. As always, the NFL wants to be on the basic tier in every subscriber's house alongside ESPN and, less popular, Comcast owned channels, and Comcast wants to keep it on the sports tier, where only those willing to shell out extra will see what it claims is the 4th most expensive channel it has. We like the NFL, but we also hate higher basic cable bills for stuff not everyone wants to watch. Of course, an 11th hour reprieve is always possible -- see Viacom, Big Ten Network and more, but next month Comcast subs may have to choose which large, greedy corporation they love more.

Read - NFL, not Comcast, is behind dispute over NFL Network
Read - I Want NFL Network

While waiting for a Caribbean cruise liner to set sail from the Port of Miami last November, a Chicago native with an AT&T wireless card and Slingbox decided to catch the Bears vs. Lions football game on his laptop. The end result? A $28,067.31 bill from for international data charges, despite the ship never leaving the harbor. Apparently the card was picking up a signal it shouldn't have, and while the bill was eventually dropped to $290.65 after a considerable number of calls to customer service, let that be a warning to mobile users traveling on the fringe of international roaming areas -- and in case you were wondering, the Bears ended up winning 27 to 23.

[Via The Register]

If you can't quite afford a ticket to attend Super Bowl XLIII, you may still be able to get close enough to feel the noise. If so, there's a decent chance you'll be enjoying the action nearby courtesy of Verizon. This year, said operator has become the first ever "non-partner" vendor allowed in the NFL Experience, as it was selected to wire the Tampa Convention Center and several affiliated hotels in the area with its FiOS fibers. All told, the outfit laid some 14,000 years of fiber in downtown Tampa is preparation for the big game, and FiOS TV will power 143 TVs throughout five downtown venues. Additionally, 116 FiOS TV set-top-boxes were installed along with 138 data lines, though there's no telling if any of this will remain after fans pack up and head home. More details are just past the break.

Believe it or not, Super Bowl XLIII is but days away. If you've been putting off that home theater expansion, the time to get serious is now. We've hosted up a handy guide to get your abode totally ready for hosting a rather monumental bash, so why not head over to Engadget Classic and check it out? We're not responsible for the condition of your wallet should you follow each and every recommendation, but we are guaranteeing that it's a darn good recipe for joviality.