1.   Matsushita becomes the fourth Japanese company in three months to announce plans to build the screens, called plasma display panels.

2.   The electronics maker obtained patents for its plasma display panels, flat television screens, in the United States, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said.

3.   The maker of heat-treatment equipment said it sees strong orders for machinery it developed to make plasma display panels.

4.   Hitachi and Fujitsu spokesmen confirmed they would make a joint announcement regarding plasma display panels on Tuesday but refused to provide further details.

5.   Japanese electronics group NEC said on Tuesday that in two to three years it hoped to market a large-scale colour plasma display panel which could replace traditional television sets.