The CMZ file format improves upon the legacy CMO file format in two ways:

1. CMZ files contain calculated values, such as the results of model-based calculations, meaning that these do not have to be recalculated every time the file is loaded; and
2. CMZ files compress the underlying data they contain.

These improvements reduce the size required on disk to store your data and reduce the time required to load your data into Visual3D or Inspect3D. Since CMZ files are often used to manage large data sets, these improvements can be significant.

Like a CMO file, every CMZ file requires a CMX file, which contains an index into the .CMZ file. This index allows individual trials and signals to be quickly found across many files at once. Setting the 'Library Path' to a root folder will allow Inspect3D to browse all of the .CMZ files inside that folder and any children folders as well.