The US Display Consortium has awarded a $2 million grant to Welch Allyn Inc.'s Lighting Products Div. in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y., to develop lamp technology for the next generation of flat panel, high-definition computer monitors and televisions. The partnership, which includes a matching contribution from the company, is aimed at recapturing some of the computer and television market that the US has lost to foreign competition.

The light bulbs will be about the same size as the bulbs the company makes for some of its larger medical devices, although they will be four times brighter. The illumination system could pave the way for lightweight, 9-in.-deep computer monitors with extremely high resolution and greater clarity.