xdf

name	xdf
description	XDF (.xdf) — Extensible Data Format from LSL recordings
layer	L0
group	consumer_eeg
metadata	{"tags":["io","xdf","lsl","recording","multi_stream"],"formats":[".xdf"],"modalities":["eeg","meg","fnirs","spike"]}

XDF — Extensible Data Format

Format Overview

XDF is the offline storage format for LSL-recorded streams. Stores multiple parallel streams (EEG + Markers + Audio + ...) with per-stream metadata + per-sample timestamps with LSL clock-correction.

Loader

Primary: pyxdf.load_xdf(path). EEG-only path: mne.io.read_raw_xdf (if installed).

Common Pitfalls

• Stream selection. A single XDF can contain EEG + Markers + Audio + ...; pick the right stream by name.
• Clock correction. pyxdf returns timestamps already clock-corrected to a common LSL clock; check that the marker stream's timestamps align.
• Format zoo. XDF supports many channel formats; ensure dtype is float-castable.

EasyBCI Path

- load:xdf,stream=EEG

References

1. Kothe, C. A. (2014). Lab Streaming Layer (LSL). https://github.com/sccn/labstreaminglayer.
2. pyxdf documentation. https://github.com/xdf-modules/pyxdf.

Boundary

• lsl_stream: live-stream version; XDF is the recorded archive.