Maybe Pioneer just needs to change shipping companies here, but we're seeing a frighteningly high amount of cracked screens on the KRP-600M over at AVSForum. The problem has become so bad, in fact, that users have started a dedicated thread just to grumble about it. Thus far, 11 responders have seen their precious plasma arrive with a cracked screen, while 18 received theirs in good shape -- not a good ratio in terms of quality control standards. We aren't sounding the fire alarm just yet, but we're curious, have any of you unboxed your shiny new set only to weep for hours due to a busted panel?

[Thanks, Gio]

Crickey! DISH Network's hotly anticipated DTVPal DVR -- which, by the way, is the first standalone OTA HD DVR to come out in years -- seems to be causing all sorts of frustration amongst owners. So much, in fact, that DISH now has engineers trying to replicate problems and issue firmware updates; in the meanwhile, the box has suddenly "sold out" from the DTVPal website. A whole swath of users over at AVSForum have reported erratic freezing, reboots and scheduling gaffs, and DISH is candidly admitting that replacement units are apt to have the same issues. In other words, those experiencing quirks have little choice but to wait things out until a solution is found and an update is distributed. Have you run into any issues with your box? Everything humming along smoothly? Tell us, dear readers.

[Thanks, Joshua]

Aw, snap! Just months after Funai took the reins from Philips in North America, along comes a lawsuit for its lawyers to deal with. VIZIO, still feeling proud after its all-business Super Bowl ad, has thrown a potent antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit in Funai's direction. The outfit alleges that Funai, "acting alone and in concert with others, unlawfully restrained trade and monopolized the market for the licensing of technology used to interpret and retrieve information from a digital television broadcast signal, as well as the market for digital television sets and receivers." Specifically, VIZIO seems perturbed that Funai inappropriately acquired the rights to one single US patent, and ever since it has "unfairly discriminated against VIZIO in the licensing and enforcement" of said patent to the "detriment of trade and commerce." There's no mention of how many bills VIZIO thinks will fix the problem, but Funai better not try filling stacks of hundies with Washingtons in between.

[Image courtesy of TooMuchNick / WireImage]

Oh, geez. Yet another cat fight akin to something you'd see on a third-grade playground between a greedy broadcast station and a greedy carrier. Portland, Oregon's KATU -- which can be received for free over-the-air -- has been dropped from DISH Network. A message on the station's website informs citizens that it had "been in negotiations with DISH in an attempt to reach a new agreement," but sadly, "those negotiations have not yet been successful." You now the story by now -- said station asserts that the carrier charges users a fee for access, and so rightfully, some of that fee should trickle back to the channel. The carrier, on the other hand, reckons that carriage should be free since it can easily be obtained by locals via an OTA antenna. We'll keep you posted on any developments, but until then, it's OTA or bust (or DirecTV / cable, to be honest) for resident DISH customers.

[Thanks, Lance and Jonny]

We can't say for certain that Netflix is at fault here, but it's beginning to sound like Roku isn't at all / entirely to blame for recent quality issues that have been plaguing users. For weeks now, Roku Netflix Player owners have noticed an almost universal drop in quality dots (which range from 1 to 4 in order to show quality levels), with many finding the new feeds "unwatchable." CNET recently had a talk with Tim Twerdahl, vice president of consumer products at Roku, about the issue, and according to Tim, all he knows is that "Roku didn't make any changes." Furthermore, we've seen comments in our own posts noting that other Netflix-enabled boxes are also seeing the quality drop. The worst part is that there's still no definitive solution in sight, so we suppose our only advice is to kick back and watch Netflix and Roku bicker over who's really to blame.

[Image courtesy of AeonScope, thanks Tyler]

At first glance, we assumed that Cable One had relegated a number of channels to switched digital video, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Instead, company officials have proclaimed that "cable programmers like Discovery HD, Nat Geo HD and ESPN HD have requested their signals to be scrambled," meaning that subscribers will now need to fork out for a CableCARD or cable company-issued set-top-box in order to see all 24 high-def stations offered in Sioux City, Iowa. Ah well, you've been looking for a valid reason to make the leap to a carrier with a real dose of high-definition anyway, right?

You can say whatever you please about DISH Network's service, but don't ever say it isn't guarding its reputation like a hawk. Just a month after the satcaster made known that a TV pirate went to the slammer for rebroadcasting its material, we see this: a notification that six retailers have been "terminated." Why, you ask? Because DISH was given reason to believe that the dirty (half) dozen had "engaged in illegal activity including fraud and misrepresentation when establishing customer accounts for DISH Network service." DISH goes on to proclaim that it "does not tolerate illegal activity and will take action against any retailer that it believes has engaged in any form of fraud or misrepresentation in its dealings with DISH Network," so if you've got a questionable deal lined up with one of the six outfits listed after the jump, we'd hop on the line and initiate a cancellation as quickly as possible.

[Image courtesy of DayLife]

Call it coincidence or call it fate, but it seems something is afoot in the land of the Roku Netflix Player. Out of seemingly nowhere, a fair amount of users are finding that their once beautiful downloads have turned to pixelated iterations of their old selves, and to no fault of their internet connection. As the story goes, some users have found that their box is forcing streaming at "one-dot," or the lowest quality selection available, rather than the four-dot connection they were using just last week. As you'd expect, the quality of the one-dot stream is rather dreadful, and for those who've tried forcing a higher quality setting, they're stuck waiting eons for buffering and such. Have you too encountered this issue? Or are the internet elves looking out for you?

[Image courtesy of PreGameLobby, thanks Tyler]

They always said the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and yet again that adage has proven true. After demo players of RARE's Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts found the text to be unreadable on SDTVs, word was passed on that the issue would remain in the final version of the game. Now, however, RARE's George Kelion has stepped in to announce that a fix is indeed in the works. To quote: "We would like to assure you that contrary to earlier reports, we are aware of the [text] issue and [are] currently working on a title update to be released within the next 30 days that will fix it for those with standard-definition TVs." Nice job raising cain, people.

[Via The Escapist]

Whoa, boy. Talk about causing an uproar. Rare, the development studio behind the forthcoming video game Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, has decided to move forward with the game without fixing a glaring textual issue when playing on an SDTV. Essentially, the text in the game -- of which there a lot -- is darn near illegible on standard-def televisions. When playing the game on an HDTV (even at 480p), it's relatively easy to make out what's going on; when attempting to play on an SDTV, things get ugly. As you can see above, we find it hard to believe SDTV owners will be able to stand the game-play for more than a few minutes, and amazingly, Rare has admitted that there are no plans to fix things before it goes gold. So, how do you feel about this? As a presumed HDTV owner, you probably couldn't care less personally, but should SDTV-owning gamers be given more respect here?

[Via Joystiq]

We've been hearing of complications surrounding playback of the new suite of 007 Blu-ray classics since last week, but we suspected the issues were contained. Apparently we were badly mistaken. A week later, we're still hearing reports that players from nearly every manufacturer are having one issue or another, with no real rhyme / reason as to what's going on. It seems as though deck manufacturers are aware of the issues and are working towards a solution, but we're just curious to see how many of you are experiencing problems. Are your new Bond discs causing headaches, or is everything humming along nicely?

[Via CDFreaks, thanks Anthony]

DOG, you know, as in digital on-screen graphics? Those absurdly annoying logos that clutter up the screen when you're trying to enjoy a program? Yeah, those. According to a new post on the BBC's official blog, it has listened to the scads of complainers and has taken action to address the concerns. Assuming no technical issues crop up, the "majority" of BBC HD content will be aired DOG-free starting this weekend, and on the material that isn't, the logo will be toned down to "the lowest level that [Auntie Beeb] can while allowing it to remain visible." The author does note that these changes are, um, subject to change, but we can't help but commend her on standing up for the viewing community and keeping the DOGs at bay.

[Via TechRadar]

Reports have been flooding in from across Ohio, Indiana and Texas to confirm the cold, hard truth: LIN TV has begun removing its stations from Time Warner Cable systems. Last month, we found that the two were still in disagreement over carriage terms, with LIN TV wanting TWC to pony up to carry stations that could otherwise be fetched OTA for free. Amazingly, they let the October 2nd deadline come and go without even a stopgap deal, meaning that some locals in Dayton, Columbus, Toledo, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Austin, Green Bay, Buffalo and a handful of other cities have now vanished from TWC's EPG. In a posting made on the carrier's site, it bluntly states that LIN TV is "trying to make up for lower ratings and advertising revenue by adding fees that will fall, ultimately, on the backs of our cable customers." Granted, that's only one half of the story, but here's the bottom line: you two need to come to terms, and fast.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Tough news for the few loyal TiVo users still hanging on over in the UK. The outfit's director of product marketing has affirmed that Series1 UK users have lost a piece of functionality that really set it apart from rivals: TiVo Suggestions. For those unaware, the feature would record similar shows that you might like based on your viewing habits, thus helping you discover content without any real effort on your part. Now, TiVo has regrettably nixed the feature entirely after finding an unavoidable conflict with the new program data supplied by a third-party. Worst of all, it doesn't sound like there's any real hope of the feature returning, so those who already forked out for a lifetime subscription are really feeling the burn right about now.

[Via Blorge, thanks Nick]

Paramount was more than adamant that absolutely nothing was wrong with its Iron Man discs, but in what's easily one of Blu-ray's biggest releases of the year, folks are still having issues. The bulk of the problems seem to hover around clogged up pipes from everyone downloading BD-Live material at the same time. Users are reporting a handful of issues ranging from the film hanging on a "blue chest loading screen" (affectionately dubbed the Blue Ring of Death) to a muffled TrueHD soundtrack. Some PS3 owners have suggested that manually telling it to bypass the whole BD-Live download circumvents the hangs, but it seems that other players aren't having such luck. So, how has your Iron Man experience been? Do these folks have legitimate beefs, or are these fools just whining for nothin'?

[Thanks, Mark]