Microsoft announced yesterday that it is intending to buy Perceptive Pixel, a maker of large LCD touch screen monitors that lists many of the major news networks as its clients.

“By joining Microsoft, we will be able to take advantage of the tremendous momentum of the Microsoft Office Division, tightly interoperate with its products, and deliver this technology to a very broad set of customers,” Perceptive Pixel Founder Jeff Han said in a statement.

“PPI’s large touch displays, when combined with hardware from our OEMs, will become powerful Windows 8-based PCs and open new possibilities for productivity and collaboration,” Microsoft Office division boss Kurt DelBene says.

The exact terms of the deal have not been disclosed, and Microsoft has yet to announce how the company will be integrated into Microsoft. Considering that Perceptive Pixel likely has a wealth of touch screen related intellectual property, it is likely that Microsoft acquired the firm for patents to be used in its upcoming Surface tablet or its large scale Pixel Sense multi touch displays.