X-Nico

4 unusual facts about Phred quality score


FASTQ format

Starting with Illumina 1.3 and before Illumina 1.8, the format encoded a Phred quality score from 0 to 62 using ASCII 64 to 126 (although in raw read data Phred scores from 0 to 40 only are expected).

Sanger format can encode a Phred quality score from 0 to 93 using ASCII 33 to 126 (although in raw read data the Phred quality score rarely exceeds 60, higher scores are possible in assemblies or read maps).

Phred quality score

Quality scores are normally stored together with the nucleotide sequence in the widely accepted FASTQ format.

Pileup format

If present, the ASCII value of the character minus 33 gives the mapping Phred quality of each of the bases in the previous column 5.



see also