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BLOW5, and only BLOW5

One open format for raw signal. Here is what it is and how you get there.

Start a free Signal Check How it works

What it is

BLOW5 is an open, vendor-neutral container for raw nanopore signal. Each file carries the sampling rate and the digitisation parameters in its header and the raw current per read in its body. SLOW5 is the same format as text. Both are documented publicly and readable with open-source libraries.

Why only this

One intake format means one contract: we know exactly what we receive, we can verify it automatically, and every job is billed on the same meter — the number of signal samples in the file. What your instrument's software wrote into the file header is removed on receipt and not kept.

How to get there

Open-source converters exist for the native output formats of common instruments. Your instrument's documentation and its user community are the right places to find the converter for your format; most labs have one on hand already. Convert on your side, check that the file opens, and you are ready for a Signal Check.

Your signal sample count

The number of signal samples is in the file header. If your converter toolkit reports it, enter it with your request; if not, enter the file size and we verify the exact count on receipt. Nothing runs before you have seen the number in your offer. What a Gsample is, exactly.

What happens if I upload something else

Our intake accepts .blow5 and .slow5 only. Anything else is rejected before upload credentials are issued, with a link back to this page.