Philips DreamStation & DreamStation 2
Read your DreamStation SD card
CPAP Clarity opens the card from your Philips DreamStation, or the encrypted card from a DreamStation 2, and shows what DreamMapper leaves out: every scored event with its timestamp, the pressure the machine actually chose, your mask leak, and the breath-by-breath flow waveform. It runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
The original DreamStation was part of the Philips Respironics recall announced in 2021 and is no longer sold new. This page is for reading the data a machine you already own has recorded. Philips recall and remediation information is the place to check your own device, alongside the clinician who manages your therapy.
What CPAP Clarity shows you
CPAP Clarity puts obstructive apneas, clear-airway (central) apneas, hypopneas, and RERAs on your timeline, each with its own timestamp, rather than the single nightly AHI figure DreamMapper reports. The card also carries flow-limitation and vibratory-snore markers; those are not on the event timeline yet, and snore appears as a nightly figure rather than as marks on the timeline.
The card carries a breath-by-breath airflow trace, the raw signal the machine uses to score events in the first place. CPAP Clarity charts it on the same wall clock as your events, so you can look at what actually happened around one of them.
The 500-series DreamStation is an Auto CPAP, so a single pressure number tells you very little. CPAP Clarity shows the pressure it actually chose through the night, with your median and 95th percentile.
Leak is reported the way OSCAR reports it: total leak minus the vent flow your mask is designed to have at that pressure. What is left is the part that escaped your seal, which is the number worth watching.
The DreamStation 2 scrambles its files into an encrypted container, which is why cards from it look empty or unreadable in tools built for the older model. CPAP Clarity unlocks and reads it in your browser. You do not have to know which generation you own.
Mode, pressure limits, ramp time, exhale relief (C-Flex, A-Flex or P-Flex) and its level, and humidifier level, read from the card alongside the nightly data, so you can see the prescription your machine was actually running rather than the one you remember.
Nightly usage hours, compliance percentage, and weekday versus weekend patterns, which is the view the four-hour adherence rule is actually measured against.
The original DreamStation was cross-checked against OSCAR on a real contributor card: 56 detailed nights, zero rows out of tolerance, and the flow waveform matched sample for sample across 127,071 samples. The DreamStation 2 decode is verified against OSCAR (identical totals, exact night count); its per-night check is still open, so treat a DS2 95th-percentile pressure as close rather than confirmed.
How to import your data
Remove the SD card
Power the DreamStation off and unplug it, so the last session finishes writing. The card slot is on the side of the machine. Press the card in gently, let it spring out, and pull it free.
Insert into your computer or phone
Use a laptop card slot, an inexpensive USB SD reader, or a USB-C or Lightning reader on a phone. You should see a P-SERIES folder and a few supporting files on the card.
Drop the whole card on CPAP Clarity
Open CPAP Clarity, go to the import page, and select the entire card. Do not open the serial-numbered folder inside P-SERIES and select that; CPAP Clarity looks for P-SERIES in the path to recognise a Philips card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does CPAP Clarity work with my DreamStation?
Yes, for the original DreamStation and the DreamStation 2. Both write the same underlying session format, and CPAP Clarity reads it directly from the SD card in your browser. The original DreamStation was validated against OSCAR on a real contributor card with zero rows out of tolerance. Philips System One, and the BiPAP S/T, AVAPS, and ASV ventilator families, are different formats and are not supported.
What about the 2021 Philips recall?
The original DreamStation was part of the Philips Respironics recall announced in 2021, related to the sound-abatement foam used in certain CPAP, BiPAP, and ventilator devices, and it is no longer sold new. This page is for people who already own one and want to read the data it records. Philips maintains an official recall and remediation page at usa.philips.com, and whether to keep, remediate, or replace a device is a conversation for you and the clinician who manages your therapy. CPAP Clarity does not sell devices and earns nothing from what you decide.
How is this different from DreamMapper?
DreamMapper shows you a nightly summary: usage, an AHI figure, and a mask-fit score. The card holds far more than that, including every scored event with its timestamp and the breath-by-breath flow waveform. CPAP Clarity reads the card itself, so you see the detail rather than the summary.
Where is the SD card slot?
On the side of the machine. Power the DreamStation off and unplug it first so a session is not half-written, then press the card in gently and let it spring out. You do not need to remove the humidifier chamber to reach it.
Which folder do I select?
Select the whole card. The P-SERIES folder on its own also works. What does not work is going one level deeper, into the folder named after your serial number, because CPAP Clarity recognises a Philips card by seeing P-SERIES in the path. That is the most common reason an import comes up short.
Do I need a computer, or will my phone work?
Either. An iPhone or iPad on iOS 17 or newer can select the whole card folder in Safari, and Android phones do the same in Chrome, using a USB-C or Lightning SD reader. A laptop card slot or an inexpensive USB reader works too.
Does it read a BiPAP or Auto BiPAP DreamStation?
It parses them and names the machine from the therapy mode it decodes rather than assuming an Auto CPAP, but expect less than this page describes. A bilevel card records its pressure as an EPAP and IPAP pair, which CPAP Clarity does not read yet, so the pressure row stays hidden and leak comes through as unmeasured rather than as a number. Your usage and your event counts are still there. On top of that, only the 500-series Auto CPAP has been cross-checked against OSCAR, so a bilevel card's numbers are unverified either way. If you have one, sending it in is what makes that check possible.
Is my data safe?
All processing happens in your browser. Your CPAP data never leaves your computer and is never uploaded to any server. CPAP Clarity stores your data in your browser's local storage so you can return to it later without re-importing.
Related Reading
- Philips DreamStation Data Guide : the full walkthrough, including the recall and what each number means.
- Reading Your Data Without DreamMapper : what the app shows compared with what the card holds.
- Central vs Obstructive Apnea : why the clear-airway share of your AHI is worth watching separately.
- What Is AHI? : the headline number, what counts as an event, and what the thresholds mean.