Sharp and Toshiba have agreed to work together on the development of their LCD TV product lines.

The deal will see Sharp buy Toshiba LCD TV chips in return for Toshiba buying Sharp LCD panels sized 32in and above.

The arrangement will commence April 2008, when the two firms both begin new financial years. By 2010, half of Sharp's LCD TV chip purchases will be supplied by Toshiba, while 40 per cent of the LCD panels Toshiba will use will come from Sharp.

The announcement of the move comes a week after Toshiba put its plan to deliver big-screen OLED TVs on hold for a few years - until 2010, to be precise.

Indeed, Sharp today said that while many new types of display technology are coming to market, it's going to focus on LCD in a bid to drive down LCD TV power consumption, thickness and weight, and increase their resolution, colour quality and lifespan.

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Curiously, Toshiba was less strident about its emphasis on LCD TV, but after promising in October to deliver 30in OLED TVs in 2009 then, a month later, saying it won't after all, it's probably wary right now of being too specific.

Earlier this year, it also distanced itself from a joint project with Canon to create SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display) TVs.

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