Major consumer electronic firms, led by Samsung and Sharp, have agreed to settle on Tuesday the U.S. lawsuits that alleged they collaborated to control prices of LCD panels, reports said.

According to Reuters, the companies have agreed to pay some $553 million to put to rest numerous cases filed in the American states of Arkansas, California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

On top of the payment to claimants, the defendants were ordered to settle their civil and penalty obligations to the involved states, Reuters said, which amounts to $14.7 million.

The cases stemmed from lawsuits that claimed the companies have conspired to inflate the price of LCD panels between 1999 and 2006, later fuelling similar probes in European Union, Japan and South Korea.

By December 2006, many of these firms, Reuters said, have owned up to wrongdoings that led to the payment of up to $890 million in fines.

The settlement, court records showed, requires for the following payment breakdowns: Samsung, $240 million: Sharp, 115.5 million; Chimei Innolux of Taiwan, $110.3 million: Hitachi, $39 million: HannStar Display, $25.7 million: Chunghwa Picture Tubes, $5.3 million and Epson Imaging, $2.9 million.

Samsung and Sharp were also ordered to pay state penalties of $6 million and $5.7 million respectively while the other firms were required to issue compensations, though of smaller amounts.

The court also required the settling companies to abide by anti-trust laws and establish units within their outfits to monitor compliance.

Part of the deal too, Reuters said, is the cooperation of the companies in prosecuting other defendants who are still battling the lawsuits in court.

Court records identified them as AU Optronics, LG and Toshiba.

In a statement, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman hailed the development as affirmation of earlier claims that wilful conspiracy among big companies hurt interest of U.S. consumers and in general disrupt the healthy flow of commerce in America.

"This price-fixing scheme manipulated the playing field for businesses that abide by the rules, and left consumers to pay artificially higher costs for televisions, computers and other electronics," Schneiderman was reported by Reuters as saying.