Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan's largest maker of power equipment, set up a venture with three companies to make lighting panels based on a more efficient technology.

Rohm Co., Toppan Printing Co. and Mitsui & Co. are the partners in the venture to make organic light-emitting diode panels, the companies said in a statement Wednesday. Production of samples will start next spring, they said.

Organic screens are now used in small televisions and car-navigation devices. They are thinner and consume less power than other flat panels, such as liquid-crystal displays.

Mitsubishi Heavy owns 51 percent, Rohm 34 percent, Toppan Printing 9.9 percent and Mitsui 5 percent of the venture, which will produce the screens for use in lighting equipment, according to the statement. The companies jointly invested ¥1.4 billion.