---
id: "hardman-entviz-algorithm-specification"
type: "specification"
type_label: "Specifications and glossaries"
title: "entviz: Algorithm Specification"
maintainer: "Daniel Hardman"
authors:
  - "Daniel Hardman"
date: "2026-05-27"
year: 2026
reading_level: "normative"
reading_level_label: "Normative"
reading_level_meaning: "the specifications and the documents they defer to"
evidence: "normative"
evidence_meaning: "a specification or a requirement in one"
status: "active"
status_meaning: "changed within the last six months, or a live service"
access: "public"
access_meaning: "anyone with the link"
topics:
  - "specifications"
  - "cryptography"
roles:
  - "developer"
  - "security-architect"
  - "standards-policy"
source_url: "https://dhh1128.github.io/entviz/spec"
source_license: null
source_license_note: null
found_on: "hardman-papers"
kerisse_credit: false
abstract_license: "CC BY 4.0"
abstract_license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
abstract_attribution: "KSKB, the KERISuite Knowledge Base (https://kskb.dev/)"
last_checked: "2026-10-15"
kskb_url: "https://kskb.dev/cards/hardman-entviz-algorithm-specification/"
kskb_app_url: "https://kskb.dev/#item/hardman-entviz-algorithm-specification"
kskb_record_url: "https://kskb.dev/data/kskb/resources/hardman-entviz-algorithm-specification"
kskb_markdown_url: "https://kskb.dev/export/cards/hardman-entviz-algorithm-specification.md"
---

# entviz: Algorithm Specification

A specification for entviz, a way to render high-entropy values (cryptographic keys, signatures, identifiers, post-quantum keys) as images so that an untrained person can tell visually whether two values are the same. It covers input normalization, fingerprinting, grid and palette rules, overlays and conformance tiers. For implementers of key and identifier comparison in user interfaces.

Labels: reading level Normative; evidence normative (a specification or a requirement in one).
Source: https://dhh1128.github.io/entviz/spec (license not recorded).
The abstract is KSKB's own text under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/; credit KSKB, the KERISuite Knowledge Base (https://kskb.dev/).