Sony recently announced that it plans to team up with nine other Japanese companies for a government-funded project, whereby these companies will jointly develop advanced technologies for mass producing large-sized, energy-saving OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) panels for TVs, Reuters reported on July 10. This project is dedicated to commercializing 40-inch or larger OLED panels in the period 2015 - 2020.

According to the Reuters report, Japan's NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) will inject around 3.5 billion Yen (US$32.7 million; US$1=107.1 Yen) overall in this project, which will last over a period of five years through March 2013. Among current OLED technology leaders, Sony has pioneered the commercialization of an 11-inch OLED TV. No mature technology has yet been developed for large-sized OLED panels.

Other participants include Sharp, TMD (Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology), Sumitomo Chemical, Idemitsu Kosan, Dainippon Screen Mfg, Shimadzu, and Hitachi Zosen.