.. _hdf5-format:
HDF5-based smFRET file format
=============================
.. module:: fretbursts
We developed an HDF5-based format called **Photon-HDF5** for smFRET
and other measurements involving series of photon timestamps.
The specifications of the Photon-HDF5 format can be found in
`Photon-HDF5 format `_.
For a general overview on the importance of a standard file format
for smFRET see also :ref:`hdf5-advantages`.
Read and write HDF5 smFRET files
--------------------------------
To load a smFRET data contained in HDF5-Ph-Data use the
function :func:`loader.photon_hdf5`.
You can convert files from any format to Photon-HDF5 by using
`phconvert `_
(already pre-installed with FRETBursts).