Sharp Corp , Japan's largest maker of liquid crystal displays, said on Tuesday it would begin selling large flat-panel televisions this year using plasma display panels (PDPs) made by Pioneer Corp.

A spokesman said the company aimed for combined sales of about 1,000 PDP televisions a month.The two consumer electronics companies are already cooperating in the development of DVD equipment, he said. Sharp has aggressively targeted the flat-panel TV market, with plans to launch large LCD televisions of 35 to 40 inches and eventually to switch all of its TV production to flat panels by the business year to March 2006.