KINEGRAM
KINEGRAM is a proprietary diffractive optically variable image device made by OVD Kinegram AG, part of the Kurz Group, and supplied only to governments and central banks for identity documents and banknotes. It is a registered trademark, not a generic term, and although it is often called a hologram it is technically a different kind of DOVID.
| Type | DOVID — diffractive optically variable image device |
| Manufacturer | OVD Kinegram AG, Switzerland — part of the Kurz Group |
| Trademark status | Registered. KINEGRAM is a brand, not a category |
| Availability | Restricted — supplied to governments and central banks only |
| Adoption | Selected by more than 120 countries |
| Technically | Non-holographic diffractive technology |
| Applied as | A foil, patch, or stripe over the document surface |
Why restricted supply is the security feature
Most security features rest on being hard to reproduce. KINEGRAM adds a second barrier that has nothing to do with technical difficulty: you cannot buy it.
Commercial security holograms are sold on an open market. Anyone can order holographic foil, and generic patches are cheap enough that counterfeiters use them routinely — which is why the presence of a hologram proves so little.
KINEGRAM is not sold that way. Supply is restricted to government issuers and central banks, and the origination know-how is held proprietarily rather than published. A counterfeiter cannot order the genuine article at any price, so the only route is imitation with a different technology, and imitations of a specific KINEGRAM design fail on the details of how the effect behaves.
The technology is also distinct from holography in how the diffractive structure is built, which produces effects — high-contrast switches, sharply defined movement, achromatic elements — that generic holographic foil does not reproduce well.
Why KINEGRAM matters for identity verification
Its practical value is that it narrows the question. On a document carrying a KINEGRAM, the useful check is not “is there a diffractive feature” but “does this feature behave the way this issuer’s KINEGRAM behaves.” That is a much more specific test and much harder to pass by accident.
It also raises the cost of the whole attack. A counterfeit passport for a country using KINEGRAM cannot reach a convincing standard cheaply, which pushes fraud toward other routes — altered genuine documents, stolen blanks, or attacking the issuance process rather than the artifact. Knowing which threat a document design displaces is useful when deciding what a identity document verification flow should actually look for.
For remote capture the same constraint applies as for any diffractive feature: it needs a change of viewing angle to reveal itself, so a single still photograph cannot assess it.
KINEGRAM vs commercial hologram
| KINEGRAM | Commercial security hologram | |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | Governments and central banks only | Open commercial market |
| Technology | Proprietary non-holographic diffractive | Holographic diffraction |
| Counterfeiter access | None — cannot be purchased | Readily purchased in bulk |
| Typical use | Passports, national ID, banknotes | ID cards, product authentication, packaging |
| Check | Does it behave like this issuer’s design? | Is it the right design at all? |
What a KINEGRAM can’t do
It does not authenticate the data. A genuine KINEGRAM on a document with an altered date of birth is still a genuine KINEGRAM.
It is not universal. More than 120 countries use it, which leaves many that do not. Its absence says nothing unless you know the document should have one.
Recognition requires a reference. Knowing the feature exists is not the same as knowing what this passport’s version should look like when tilted.
Stolen blank stock defeats it. A counterfeit produced on genuine blanks carries a genuine feature — the same caveat that applies to every substrate and finishing feature in this cluster.
Frequently asked questions
Is KINEGRAM a hologram?
Not technically, though it is frequently called one. Both are DOVIDs — diffractive optically variable image devices — but KINEGRAM uses a proprietary non-holographic diffractive technology rather than conventional holography.
Can anyone buy a KINEGRAM?
No. Supply is restricted to government issuers and central banks. That restriction is a deliberate part of the security model: a counterfeiter cannot obtain the genuine article at any price.
How do you spell it?
KINEGRAM, capitalized, as a registered trademark of OVD Kinegram AG. It is a brand name rather than a generic term for diffractive features — the generic term is DOVID.
Which countries use KINEGRAM?
More than 120 have selected it for passports, identity documents, or banknotes. Exactly which document designs carry it varies, so absence on a given document is not by itself meaningful.
