Himax Partners with Novatek to Unveil Industry Leading Ultralow Power Pre-Roll AI Solution for Battery Surveillance Camera at CES 2023

TAINAN, Taiwan and HSINCHIU, Taiwan, Dec. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIMX), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced a collaboration with Novatek Microelectronics Corp. (TWSE: 3034) (“Novatek”), a leading fabless chip design company specializing in the design, development and sales of a wide range of display driver ICs & SoC solutions, to unveil the industry leading ultralow power pre-roll AI solution for battery-operated surveillance camera at CES 2023.

At CES 2023 from January 5 – 8, Himax and Novatek will live demonstrate the industry leading ultralow power pre-roll AI solution for battery-operated surveillance camera. The highlight of this leading-edge AI solution is the combination of the Himax WiseEye™ WE1 AI processor, HX6537, and Novatek’s core AI vision processor, NT98566. Both IC have their own unique and exceptional capabilities. Himax WiseEye™ WE1 AI processor, HX6537 offering ultralow power pre-roll recording function while Novatek’s core AI vision processor, NT98566 conducted over Wi-Fi 6 protocol, enabling high quality, low latency live streaming performance.

As an illustration, the surveillance camera can operate with the always-on pre-roll function recording video clips at a slow frame rate, using only single digit milliwatts power consumption while the core vision processor is powered off. In the meantime, Himax WE1 AI processor intelligently senses a specific motion event, such as certain human behavior or suspicious activity. Once a classified event is identified, it will activate Novatek’s core AI vision processor initiating a high resolution recording of the event while stitching the pre-roll video clips in Himax WE1 AI processor thereto. This is a substantial improvement compared to what existing surveillance solutions offer in terms of privacy and security as users receive a thorough video stream complete with pre-roll video clips of what preceded the motion events. It also significantly extends the battery life of the surveillance system by approximately 30% in general use cases from AI image classification.

Additionally, the WE1 processor supports numerous house-keeping operations in the camera system, including battery management, field of view adjustment of camera lens, PIR and IR bulb fill light control. Novatek’s state-of-the-art core AI processor NT98566 is equipped with 1 Gb DRAM and can support resolutions up to 5M 30FPS video performance while simultaneously performing advanced AI operations on each frame. The NT98566 also features WiFi 6 design which allows streaming video output without freezes or delays.

"Partnering with Novatek is a win-win as it allows us to leverage each other’s strength in AI. In addition to both parties' collective years of know-how on panel display and in the emerging enormous AI fields, it also allows us to jointly engage with multiple global vendors for their next generation product launches,” said Jordan Wu, Chief Executive Officer at Himax. “We are excited to see WiseEye’s continued expansion into applications for people‘s everyday lives. Its adoption into surveillance applications is yet another strong demonstration of its agility and flexibility. We believe WiseEye will continue to open new growth vectors for us moving forward. We are proud to be at the forefront of innovation bringing our WiseEye, embedded with proprietary pre-roll functionality and smart image sensing to lower device power consumption while improving system security and overall user experience at the same time,” concluded Mr. Wu.

Novatek and Himax will showcase the ultralow power AI solution with pre-roll function for surveillance camera together with customers at CES 2023 in Suite 1230 of the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel (3400 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA). To schedule a meeting or booth tour, please contact Himax at hx_CES@himax.com.tw or Iris_Wu@novatek.com.tw.

About Novatek Microelectronics Corp.

Novatek Microelectronics Corp. is a leading fabless chip design company specializing in the design, development and sales of a wide range of display driver ICs & SoC solutions that help our worldwide customers meet emerging needs for sophisticated flat-panel display applications and audio/video applications for all digital devices.

Building on our expertise in chip design and advanced fabrication technologies, Novatek has successfully achieved a substantial growth and expansion, as well as an outstanding financial performance since its inception in May 1997. In August 2002, Novatek was listed on the main board of the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE), stock code: 3034.

Striving to achieve and deliver the highest level of innovation and quality, no efforts are spared to maintain a competitive edge over its competitors in this fast-growing industry. We are proud that our products and services are well received and endorsed by global brand names.

Novatek was ranked No.2 in Taiwan and No. 6 in the world by fabless chip design house revenue in 2021 and specializes in smart display and smart image total solutions, ranging from a full line of display ICs and SoC for all types of display and image applications.

https://www.novatek.com.tw/en-global/Home/Index

About Himax Technologies, Inc.

Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) is a fabless semiconductor solution provider dedicated to display imaging processing technologies. Himax is a worldwide market leader in display driver ICs and timing controllers used in TVs, laptops, monitors, mobile phones, tablets, automotive, digital cameras, car navigation, virtual reality (VR) devices and many other consumer electronics devices. Additionally, Himax designs and provides controllers for touch sensor displays, in-cell Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI) single-chip solutions, AMOLED ICs, LED driver ICs, power management ICs and LCoS micro-displays for augmented reality (AR) devices and heads-up displays (HUD) for automotive. The Company also offers CMOS image sensors, wafer level optics for AR devices, 3D sensing and ultralow power WiseEye™ smart image sensing, which are used in a wide variety of applications such as mobile phone, tablet, laptop, TV, PC camera, automobile, security, medical device, home appliance, AIoT, etc. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan, Himax currently employs around 2,100 people from three Taiwan-based offices in Tainan, Hsinchu and Taipei and country offices in China, Korea, Japan, German, and the US. Himax has 2,980 patents granted and 417 patents pending approval worldwide as of September 30, 2022. Himax has retained its position as the leading display imaging processing semiconductor solution provider to consumer electronics brands worldwide.

http://www.himax.com.tw

Forward Looking Statements

Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in this conference call include, but are not limited to, the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Company’s business; general business and economic conditions and the state of the semiconductor industry; market acceptance and competitiveness of the driver and non-driver products developed by the Company; demand for end-use applications products; reliance on a small group of principal customers; the uncertainty of continued success in technological innovations; our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property; pricing pressures including declines in average selling prices; changes in customer order patterns; changes in estimated full-year effective tax rate; shortage in supply of key components; changes in environmental laws and regulations; changes in export license regulated by Export Administration Regulations (EAR); exchange rate fluctuations; regulatory approvals for further investments in our subsidiaries; our ability to collect accounts receivable and manage inventory and other risks described from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including those risks identified in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the SEC, as may be amended.

Novatek Contact:

Iris Wu
Novatek Microelectronics Corp.
Email: Iris_Wu@novatek.com.tw
https://www.novatek.com.tw/en-global/Home/Index

Himax Contacts:

Eric Li, Chief IR/PR Officer
Himax Technologies, Inc.
Tel: +886-6-505-0880
Fax: +886-2-2314-0877
Email: hx_ir@himax.com.tw
www.himax.com.tw

Karen Tiao, Investor Relations
Himax Technologies, Inc.
Tel: +886-2-2370-3999
Fax: +886-2-2314-0877
Email: hx_ir@himax.com.tw
www.himax.com.tw

Mark Schwalenberg, Director
Investor Relations - US Representative
MZ North America
Tel: +1-312-261-6430
Email: HIMX@mzgroup.us
www.mzgroup.us