{"slug": "binvis-io", "name": "binvis.io", "category": "files", "category_name": "Files, sync and backup", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.762, "rising": 2.67, "first": "2026-04-23", "latest": "2026-08-25", "why": "If you analyze binary files often, I highly recommend binvis", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "If you analyze binary files often, I highly recommend binvis", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": "binvis.io", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://binvis.io", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["binvis.io", "binvis"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 791072416, "item_id": 49442026, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49442026", "by": "Retr0id", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use binvis quite a lot for getting a quick overview of an unknown file format, using the entropy mode in particular.", "excerpt": "I use binvis quite a lot for getting a quick overview of an unknown file format, using the entropy mode in particular. However, I almost always switch it into the linear view. Hilbert curves are cool but I've never really found any benefit, and it makes it harder to intuit things like how far a particular feature is into the file, or whether two features are actually nearby (while near things in linear-space are typi", "context": "", "use_case": "unknown file format overview", "switched_from": "", "story": "Visualizing Binary Files"}, {"id": 791045168, "item_id": 49440323, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49440323", "by": "fussylogic", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cool tool from the above blog post. Worth a look.", "excerpt": "Cool tool from the above blog post. Worth a look. https://binvis.io/ Ps: I had the exact same thought! Also: can programs be encoded into lossy image formats? Would be cool to see what image compression does to program functionality", "context": "", "use_case": "Binary file visualization", "switched_from": "", "story": "Visualizing Binary Files"}, {"id": 791042624, "item_id": 49440164, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49440164", "by": "nyx", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using https://binvis.io for this", "excerpt": "I've been using https://binvis.io for this when I just want quick-and-dirty color coding to see what the heck I'm looking at.", "context": "", "use_case": "quick binary file visualization", "switched_from": "", "story": "Visualizing Binary Files"}, {"id": 765979808, "item_id": 47873738, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47873738", "by": "xyx0826", "date": "2026-04-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you analyze binary files often, I highly recommend binvis", "excerpt": "If you analyze binary files often, I highly recommend binvis - http://binvis.io/. It creates a colored minimap for files it loads and has two available arrangements. Pixel color is based on range of bytes, eg ASCII/null bytes/FF bytes. Besides, it\u2019s a pretty basic hex viewer that runs in your browser. The minimap is extremely powerful for identifying interesting areas and patterns in unknown data.", "context": "", "use_case": "binary file visualization", "switched_from": "", "story": "Your hex editor should color-code bytes"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["binary file visualization", "unknown file format overview", "quick binary file visualization"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49423878", "title": "Visualizing Binary Files", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47846688", "title": "Your hex editor should color-code bytes", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 791072416, "item_id": 49442026, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49442026", "by": "Retr0id", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use binvis quite a lot for getting a quick overview of an unknown file format, using the entropy mode in particular.", "excerpt": "I use binvis quite a lot for getting a quick overview of an unknown file format, using the entropy mode in particular. However, I almost always switch it into the linear view. Hilbert curves are cool but I've never really found any benefit, and it makes it harder to intuit things like how far a particular feature is into the file, or whether two features are actually nearby (while near things in linear-space are typi", "context": "", "use_case": "unknown file format overview", "switched_from": "", "story": "Visualizing Binary Files"}, {"id": 791045168, "item_id": 49440323, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49440323", "by": "fussylogic", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cool tool from the above blog post. Worth a look.", "excerpt": "Cool tool from the above blog post. Worth a look. https://binvis.io/ Ps: I had the exact same thought! Also: can programs be encoded into lossy image formats? Would be cool to see what image compression does to program functionality", "context": "", "use_case": "Binary file visualization", "switched_from": "", "story": "Visualizing Binary Files"}, {"id": 791042624, "item_id": 49440164, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49440164", "by": "nyx", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using https://binvis.io for this", "excerpt": "I've been using https://binvis.io for this when I just want quick-and-dirty color coding to see what the heck I'm looking at.", "context": "", "use_case": "quick binary file visualization", "switched_from": "", "story": "Visualizing Binary Files"}, {"id": 765979808, "item_id": 47873738, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47873738", "by": "xyx0826", "date": "2026-04-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you analyze binary files often, I highly recommend binvis", "excerpt": "If you analyze binary files often, I highly recommend binvis - http://binvis.io/. It creates a colored minimap for files it loads and has two available arrangements. Pixel color is based on range of bytes, eg ASCII/null bytes/FF bytes. Besides, it\u2019s a pretty basic hex viewer that runs in your browser. The minimap is extremely powerful for identifying interesting areas and patterns in unknown data.", "context": "", "use_case": "binary file visualization", "switched_from": "", "story": "Your hex editor should color-code bytes"}]}