An Anglo-Scottish spin-off company has won £750,000 to exploit research into flat-panel displays.

The cross-border Quantum Filament Technologies, led by Dundee University's Merv Rose , and Surrey University's Ravi Silva, will build on joint research to develop technologies in the field of flat-panel displays, which are found in devices ranging from mobile phones to home cinema systems.

Professor Rose, an expert in displays and image systems, said Surrey and Dundee had worked together to pioneer large-area electronics, developing a new method for fabricating flat-panel displays. The professors' teams use laser technology to improve on the "smeared" look of liquid-crystal images.

"Our technology is a manufacturable solution," Professor Rose said.

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Professor Silva, director of Surrey's Advanced Technology Institute, said that technology that led to the start-up could be traced back to research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

The pair will work part time in the new company and continue their university work. Both universities are investing in the company in a deal led by Braveheart Ventures, a group of Perth-based business angels.

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Investment has also come from the Dundee-based business development company Amcet and the Scottish Co-Investment Fund.

Roy Clarke, QFT's managing director, said there was already a £47 billion market for displays. "If a radically superior display can be demonstrated, there are endless possibilities for new applications," he said.

"Our technology can contribute to the development of flexible, even wearable, display panelling to replace conventional lighting."