Method and device for preparing data for identifying analytes

A method for preparing data for identifying analytes in a sample, in which in an experiment one or more analytes are colored with markers in multiple coloring rounds, the markers in each case being specific for a certain set of analytes, detecting the multiple markers using a camera, which for each coloring round generates at least one image containing multiple pixels and color values assigned thereto, the image including colored signals and uncolored signals, wherein a colored signal is a pixel having a color value that originates from a marker, and an uncolored signal is a pixel having a color value that is not based on a marker, and storing the color information of the particular coloring rounds for evaluating the color information, a data point in each case including one or more contiguous pixels in the images of the multiple coloring rounds that are assigned to the same location in a sample,

• wherein
• for each data point of the multiple images of the sample, the particular color values are assessed for whether they represent a colored signal in each case and accordingly encode an analyte, and the n color values of the different coloring rounds that most likely represent a colored signal are selected for each data point, where n is an integer that is less than the total number of coloring rounds of an experiment, and
• when the color information is stored, the color values that are not selected are omitted.