The purchase of Perceptive Pixel (PPI) for an undisclosed amount was announced at Microsoft's Worldwide Partners Conference in Toronto Monday. With the focus of Windows 8 on touch-based Metro , the addition of PPI will mean a different scope of applications than could be accommodated on a typical small-format tablet.

"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," Kurt DelBene, president of Microsoft's Office Division, says in a press release.

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PPI notably makes the enormous unlimited-touch touchscreens and applications used by CNN political analysts to display voter maps and election results. Last year the company claims it produced the largest touchscreen and then later in the year made an even larger one.