.. _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).