TOKYO - The Japanese government is backing Sony, Toshiba, Sharp and some other companies in joint research of new display technology called organic light-emitting diodes, or OLED.

An agency set up for encouraging research, The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, or NEDO, said in a statement Thursday it has chosen the companies with the aim of developing a 40-inch OLED display sometime after 2015.

OLEDs use light-emitting organic compounds similar to those found in fireflies. TVs using OLEDs don't require a backlight and can be thinner than those based on the more common liquid crystal or plasma display panels.