Chips&Media and Visionary.ai Unveil the World's First AI-Based Full Image Signal Processor, Redefining the Future of Image Quality

The collaboration marks a breakthrough in real-time video, bringing software-upgradable imaging to the edge

SEOUL, South Korea and JERUSALEM, Jan. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Chips&Media, Inc. (KOSDAQ: 094360) a leading hardware IP provider with more than 20 years of leadership in the multimedia industry, and Visionary.ai, the Israeli startup pioneering AI software for image processing, today announced the launch of the world's first AI-based full Image Signal Processor (ISP). The new ISP offers a software-defined imaging pipeline that supercharges video quality in real time.

The new AI ISP replaces traditional hardware-based pipelines with intelligent neural networks, marking a paradigm shift for the imaging industry. It will be showcased publicly for the first time at CES 2026.

Software-Defined Imaging

For decades, ISPs have been rigid, fixed-function hardware chips, limited in their image quality performance, and unable to adapt after production.

The Visionary.ai–Chips&Media collaboration transforms this model completely, introducing an AI software-based full ISP pipeline that produces exceptional video quality. Moreover, the software can be tuned, optimized, and updated over the air.

This breakthrough builds upon Visionary.ai's widely acclaimed AI denoiser, extending it into a full imaging pipeline that leverages both companies' deep expertise in AI, computer vision, and hardware acceleration.

Unprecedented Video Quality and Flexibility

The AI ISP delivers a generational leap in performance and efficiency:

• Superior video quality across all lighting and motion conditions, in real-time, with reduced blur and noise, increased sharpness and color accuracy.
• Improved object detection, enhancing computer vision accuracy downstream. Results in low light show over 75% increase in detection, and 91% reduction in false positives.
• Full software flexibility, allowing instant tuning and over-the-air updates.
• Efficient NPU utilization, achieving high-precision, real-time imaging on devices with low power consumption and competitive area efficiency.

Competitive Power and Area Efficiency

Chips&Media successfully addresses the typical trade-offs of state-of-the-art AI with its customized NPU, WAVE-N, which the result of more than two decades of experience in hardware IP design and development.

Line-by-line processing within CNN computation minimizes DRAM bandwidth and reduces both power consumption and latency, two of the most critical constraints in edge devices.

Chips&Media's industry-leading hardware design expertise ensures highly competitive area efficiency. The AI ISP maintains these advantages even while supporting 16-bit floating-point precision, enabling exceptional accuracy and image quality.

Steve Kim, CEO of Chips&Media, stated:

"Working with Visionary.ai allows us to expand the boundaries of what's possible in imaging technology. Together, we are merging Chips&Media's silicon-proven IP with Visionary.ai's AI-powered software to deliver state-of-the-art imaging solutions for customers worldwide. We are already excited to pioneer new frontiers that demand smarter, faster, and more adaptable imaging systems."

Oren Debbi, CEO of Visionary.ai, added:

"By moving the ISP from hardware to AI software, we're rewriting the rules of imaging. Our collaboration with Chips&Media allows us to combine world-class IP with edge AI, enabling cameras to achieve clarity, adaptability, and intelligence that were never possible before. This is the foundation of a software-defined camera, where image quality, features, and intelligence evolve entirely through software."

The AI ISP will debut at CES 2026, where attendees can experience live demonstrations at Booth 61701, Venetian Expo, Eureka Park, Hall G. The technology will be available for OEM evaluation shortly thereafter.

About Chips&Media, Inc.
Chips&Media is a global leader in multimedia IP, offering image processing NPUs, hardware video codec IP, lossless/lossy frame buffer compression IP, and more. Since 2003, the company has focused exclusively on hardware IP for the imaging industry and has shipped over 3 billion units, adopted by more than 150 semiconductor companies worldwide.
For more information, please visit: www.chipsnmedia.com

About Visionary.ai
Listed as one of the 100 Most Promising AI Startups, Visionary.ai develops advanced AI image processing software, empowering cameras to achieve superior performance in any environment. Their AI ISP (Image Signal Processor) improves video quality in extreme low-light and HDR, improving detection, resolution, and clarity. Founded in 2020, the company's technology is used by leading manufacturers in consumer electronics, automotive, security, and industrial sectors. Learn more at www.visionary.ai.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn-PJTiIu00

SOURCE Visionary.ai; Chips&Media