TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Corp and other Japanese companies said they will team up to jointly develop key technologies to make large-sized organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for use in TVs.

OLED panels, seen as promising next-generation flat displays, use organic, or carbon-containing, compounds that emit light when electricity is applied.

Unlike liquid crystal displays, OLED panels do not need backlighting, making them slimmer and more energy efficient. But makers need to clear hurdles such as cutting production costs and maximizing screen size in order to begin mass-producing OLEDs.

Sony and other firms, including a joint venture between Toshiba Corp and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co , will participate in a joint development project initiated by the Japanese government.

Details of the project, which aims to establish basic technologies for making energy-saving, high-definition OLED displays with screen sizes of 40-inch and larger, will be announced soon, participating companies said.