The Shannon entropy [Bell Syst. Tech J.27, 379 (1948)] of spectral distributions is applied to the problem of color rendering. With this novel approach, calculations for visual white entropy, spectral entropy, and color rendering are proposed, indices that are unreliant on the subjectivity inherent in reference spectra and color samples. The indices are tested against real lamp spectra, showing a simple and robust system for color rendering assessment. The discussion considers potential roles for white entropy in several areas of color theory and psychophysics and nonextensive entropy generalizations of the entropy indices in mathematical color spaces.