JP2011070709A - Optical disk, optical disk apparatus, reproducing method, and recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

【Task】
When a single disc is a hybrid disc having different types of media and the recording layer of the different media is moved after being installed in the optical disc device, information indicating which layer is which media is recorded on the DI of the optical disc. There are challenges.
[Solution]
By changing the disk identifier and disk structure in the DI such as BCA and PIC of the optical disk, detailed information of the hybrid disk is stored in the DI.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical disc, an optical disc apparatus, a reproducing method, and a recording method.

  Hybrid discs having both DVD and BD (Blu-ray Disc) playback layers are on the market. These are discriminated as either one of the media after being mounted on the optical disc apparatus. Which is determined depends on the optical disk device, but once it is determined, it continues to operate only as the selected medium until a medium switching command is issued from the control device that controls the optical disk device.

  In addition, information on the medium type of the disc is recorded on the optical disc. Patent Document 1 describes that DI (disc information) is recorded in an area called PIC, and the medium type, class, and version are defined there.

Special table 2008-508658

  When one disc has recording layers of different media types and the recording layers of different media types are moved after the optical disc device is inserted, information on which layer is which type of media is recorded on the DI of the optical disc. There is a problem of doing. Further, there is a problem that the optical disc apparatus determines which layer the light spot is currently focused on based on the information.

  This problem becomes more important as the optical disk becomes multilayered.

  Further, in the focus jump that moves the light spot between the recording layers, there is a problem of determining whether the recording layer after reaching the target type is a layer of interest.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc or an optical disc apparatus capable of discriminating the layer configuration of the optical disc when the optical disc has a plurality of different layers, for example.

  The above object is achieved, for example, by the configurations described in the claims. Moreover, said objective is achieved also by the following means, for example. That is, in an optical disc having recording layers of a plurality of medium types, the number of recording layers of each medium type and the total number of recording layers of the optical disc are recorded as disc information in at least one of all the recording layers.

  According to the present invention, for example, when an optical disk has a plurality of different layers, it is possible to provide an optical disk or an optical disk apparatus that can determine the layer configuration of the optical disk.

A diagram showing examples of disk identifiers and disk structures (Example 1) FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a recording layer of an optical disc (Example 1). A diagram showing examples of disk identifiers and disk structures (Example 1) FIG. 10 is a diagram showing examples of disk identifiers and disk structures (Example 2). FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a recording layer of an optical disc (Example 3). FIG. 10 is a diagram showing examples of disk identifiers and disk structures (Example 3). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing examples of disk identifiers and disk structures (Example 4). FIG. 10 is a diagram showing examples of disk identifiers and disk structures (Example 5). FIG. 10 is a diagram showing examples of disk identifiers and disk structures (Example 6). Block diagram showing a configuration example of an optical disk device (Eighth embodiment) Flowchart showing an example of a recording process or a reproduction process (Example 8) FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a recording layer of an optical disc (Example 3). FIG. 10 is a diagram showing examples of disk identifiers and disk structures (Example 7). FIG. 7 shows an example of a recording layer of an optical disc (Example 7).

  Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  DI (Disc Information) indicates various information used for recording and reproducing operations of the optical disc. Generally, the disc information is recorded in advance on a predetermined part of an optical disc having an area called BCA (Burst Cutting Area) laser-cut by an optical disc manufacturer or creator, or PIC (invariant information & control data). : Permanent Information & Control data) area or wobble shape of recording track.

  The disc information includes at least a disc identifier (Disc Layer Type identifier) and a disc structure (BD structure). The disc identifier is composed of a 3-byte ASCII code and represents the medium type in the layer in which the disc structure is recorded. The disk structure represents the number of recording layers and the characteristics of the recording layers. In this specification, the disk identifier may be rephrased as disk identification information. In this specification, the disk structure may be referred to as disk structure information. Further, in this specification, the recording layer is not only a recordable layer in which user data can be additionally written or rewritten, but also a read-only layer in which user data is already recorded at the time of manufacture of the medium and cannot be additionally written. Also includes layers. For example, the recording layer refers to a layer other than the cover layer. For example, the recording layer refers to a layer other than the spacer layer.

  FIG. 1 shows the disc identifier and the disc structure in the case of 1-layer BD-RE (REwritable) and 2-layer BD-ROM (ReadOnly Memory). In the case of a single-layer BD-RE, “BDW” recorded in the disc identifier indicates BD-RE, and “SL / RE” recorded in the disc structure has one recording layer. SL (single layer) meaning a layer and the recording layer is RE. In the case of a two-layer BD-ROM, “BDO” recorded in the disc identifier indicates that the disc is a BD-ROM, and “DL / ROM” recorded in the disc structure has two recording layers. DL (double layer) meaning a layer and the recording layer is ROM. The DI information is recorded as the same information for both PIC and BCA.

  However, for example, from this DI information, when one optical disc has a plurality of types of media layers, what type of media layers are included in the optical disc, and each type of media layer includes It is not possible to express how many layers there are and how many in total.

  In this embodiment, the above problem is solved by renewing the disc identifier of the optical disc and the format of information recorded in the disc structure.

  In this embodiment, an optical disc having a plurality of media in a BD is considered. The BD includes a BD-ROM dedicated to reproduction, a BD-R that can be recorded once for one track, and a BD-RE that can be repeatedly recorded on one track. Among these, at least two types of media are available. Consider the case where the recording layer is in one optical disc. Here, the medium type indicates, for example, the characteristics of the recording layer being a read-only layer or a recording layer that can be additionally written or rewritten. The medium type indicates, for example, the characteristics of whether the recording layer has a recording density equivalent to BD or a recording density equivalent to DVD. The medium type indicates, for example, the characteristics of whether the recording layer has a recording density equivalent to BD of 23 GB or a recording density higher than 23 GB. In addition, the medium type indicates, for example, a feature that the recording layer is a recordable layer or a rewritable recording layer.

  Further, even if the configuration is not exemplified, it may be an optical disc having at least one first type layer and at least one second type layer different from the first type. For example, it may be a plurality of optical discs having different recording densities such that the first type layer is a DVD layer and the second type layer is a BD layer. The first type layer may be a read-only layer that can only be played back, and the second type layer may be a recordable layer in which information can be additionally written or rewritten. Further, it may be an optical disc having a plurality of types of layers having different physical standards in the user data area.

  Here, FIG. 2 shows an optical disc 100 having one BD-RE recording layer and two BD-ROM recording layers. This is an optical disc 100 in which information can be recorded and reproduced by irradiating a laser from the lower side of the figure. From the side far from the surface, the structure of recording layers such as BD-RE, BD-ROM, and BD-ROM It has become.

  The BCA is recorded only on the BD-RE which is the innermost recording layer, and the PIC is recorded on at least one recording layer of the recording layers of the respective media. The DI of PIC is also included in the wobble of the recording track of the recording layer.

  Each recording layer includes user data in which user data is recorded or in which user data can be recorded.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows a disk identifier and a disk structure of this embodiment.

  As the disc identifier, the disc identifier of the BD-RE PIC is “WO1”. “W” represents BD-RE, “O” represents BD-ROM, and “1” represents that the total number of recording layers of the BD-RE of the medium is one. According to this rule, the disc identifier of the BD-ROM PIC is set to “WO2”. On the other hand, the disc identifier of BCA is “WO3”. “3” represents the total number of layers of the optical disc 100. Note that “3” may be TL (triple layer) “T” or the like. Similarly, “1” may be replaced with other defined ASCII codes such as “S” and “2” with “D”.

  That is, in the present optical disc 100, information indicating what kind of medium the recording layer has in the disc identifier of a certain recording layer, information indicating what other recording type the recording layer has, and recording of the medium Information indicating the number of layers is recorded.

  In the disc identifier in the BCA, information indicating which type of recording layer the optical disc 100 includes and information indicating the sum of the number of recording layers of each type of media are recorded.

  The disk structure is also different for PIC and BCA. The disc structure of the PIC is “TL / RE” in the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-RE, and “TL / ROM” in the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-ROM. On the other hand, the disk structure of BCA is “TL / RE + ROM”. The PIC information represents the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 and the type of the medium, and the BCA information represents the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 and the type of the medium. For example, since the total number of layers in the BCA disk structure is three, it is assumed that TL (triple layer) is used, and both the RE and ROM media are provided.

  That is, in the present optical disc 100, the disc structure included in the PIC of a certain recording layer shows information indicating what kind of medium the layer has, and how many recording layers the optical disc 100 has in total. Information is recorded. Further, in the present optical disc 100, information indicating the sum of the number of all recording layers of the optical disc 100 and information indicating which type of recording layer is included in the optical disc 100 are included in the disc structure included in the BCA. To be recorded.

  In the disc structure in the BCA, information indicating which type of recording layer the optical disc 100 includes and information indicating the sum of the number of recording layers of each type of media are recorded.

  Thereby, the optical disk apparatus can know the whole structure of the optical disk 100 inserted by reading BCA or PIC. Even if one of BCA and PIC cannot be reproduced due to scratches or dirt, if one of them can be read, the entire configuration of the disc can be known.

  Here, in the optical disc 100 of FIG. 2, the BCA is recorded only on the innermost recording layer. However, when at least one BCA is recorded on the recording layer of each medium, the same information as the PIC is stored in the BCA. May be recorded in the DI.

  In the first embodiment, the optical disc 100 having a recording layer configuration of BD-RE, BD-ROM, and BD-ROM from the side far from the surface is described.

  In this embodiment, an optical disc 100 having a recording layer structure of BD-ROM, BD-RE, and BD-RE from the side far from the surface will be described.

  FIG. 4 shows the disk identifier and disk structure of this embodiment.

  In the optical disc 100 of this embodiment, the arrangement order of information recorded in the disc identifier is different at the position in the layer thickness direction of the recording layer of each medium type in the optical disc 100.

  As the disc identifier, the disc identifier of the BD-ROM PIC is “OW1”. “O” represents a BD-ROM, “W” represents a BD-RE, and “1” represents that the number of recording layers of the BD-ROM of the medium is one. In accordance with this rule, the disc identifier of the BD-RE PIC is set to “OW2”. On the other hand, the disc identifier of BCA is “OW3”. “3” represents the total number of layers of the optical disc 100. “W” indicates BD-RE, “O” indicates BD-ROM, and “3” indicates that the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 is three as in the first embodiment. "And" O "are different in order.

  In this way, the ASCII code corresponding to each medium type is expressed in order from the recording layer at the back with respect to the surface, whereby the characteristics of the optical disc 100 can be conveyed in more detail. The recording layer at the back of the surface here refers to a recording layer that is located farthest from the optical pickup when the optical disc 100 is installed in an optical disc apparatus.

  Further, the above example shows a configuration in which a byte indicating the medium type is assigned to a higher byte in the disk identifier as the recording layer of a certain medium type is located in the back of the disk surface. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a higher-order byte in the disc identifier may be assigned as the recording layer of a certain type of medium is positioned closer to the disc surface.

  The disk structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, for example. The disc structure of the PIC is “TL / RE” in the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-RE, and “TL / ROM” in the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-ROM. On the other hand, the disk structure of BCA is “TL / RE + ROM”. The PIC information represents the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 and the type of the medium, and the BCA information represents the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 and the type of the medium.

In the present embodiment, an example in which a disc identifier and a disc structure different from those in the first and second embodiments are applied to the optical disc 100 ′ shown in FIG. 5 has a recording layer configuration of BD-R, BD-RE, BD-RE, and BD-ROM from the side far from the surface. FIG. The disk structure is shown.

  The disc identifier in this embodiment is different between PIC and BCA.

  The disc identifier of the PIC is “RX1” in the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-R. In the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-RE, the disc identifier is “RX2”. In the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-ROM, the disc identifier is “RX1”. In BCA, the disc identifier is “RX4”. The disc identifier of the PIC represents the arrangement of each medium and the number of recording layers of the medium. More specifically, the first byte, which is the most significant byte of the disc identifier, indicates the type of the recording layer arranged at the innermost position from the disc surface. The second byte of the disc identifier indicates the arrangement of other recording layer types. The disc identifier of BCA represents the medium arrangement and the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 ′. In the above case, for example, in the disc identifier of the BD-R PIC, “R” represents BD-R, and “X” represents BD-RE and BD-ROM as the disc surface approaches the BD-R medium. In this order, the medium is arranged, and “1” represents the number of recording layers of the BD-R that is the medium. In the case of the disc identifier of the BCA, “R” indicates that the BD-R medium is arranged at the innermost position from the disc surface, and “X” is the BD- This indicates that the medium is arranged in the order of RE and BD-ROM, and “4” indicates that the total number of recording layers of the disc is four. The “4” may be “Q” representing QL (quad layer).

  That is, in the PIC, the disc identifier of the recording layer indicates information indicating the type of the medium arranged at the innermost side of the optical disc 100 ′ and the arrangement of other types of media, and the number of recording layers of the medium. Information is recorded.

  In BCA, information indicating the medium type and arrangement of the optical disc 100 ′ and the number of all recording layers are recorded in the disc identifier.

  On the other hand, in the PIC, the disc structure is “QL / R” in the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-R, “QL / RE” in the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-RE, and the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-ROM. Let's say “QL / ROM”. On the other hand, the disk structure of BCA is “QL / R + RE + ROM”. The PIC information represents the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 ′ and the type of the medium, and the BCA information represents the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 ′ and the type of the entire medium. For example, since the total number of layers in the BCA disk structure is four, it is QL, indicating that it has R, RE, and ROM media.

  That is, in the disk structure, information indicating the number of all recording layers and information indicating the medium type of each recording layer are recorded.

  Here, as a method of representing the RE + ROM in the disk structure, it is assumed that 3 bits in 1-byte information represent ROM, R, and RE, respectively, and a medium having a bit of 1 in the information is the optical disc 100 ′. For example, a recording layer can be considered.

  In this embodiment, by defining the type and arrangement of two media in one byte in the disk identifier code, it is possible to cope with the case where the number of media is three or more.

  In this embodiment, the medium and arrangement of BD-RE and BD-ROM are defined in “X” that is the second byte, and the second and third medium from the back with respect to the surface of the optical disc 100 ′. An example of assigning to is shown. In addition, for example, in the PIC of the recording layer of BD-R, the second and third media from the back are changed to BD-ROM and BD by changing the second byte such that the disc identifier is “RY1”. It may be configured to indicate -RE. Thus, for example, as in the optical disc 100 ″ shown in FIG. 12, it is possible to cope with the case where the types of the second and third media are opposite to those of the optical disc 100 ′ shown in FIG. In this case, the second and third media are BD-ROM and BD-RE, and the disc identifiers in the PICs of both media may be “RY2” and “RY1”. Also, the first and second media from the back, such as “XR1”, may be defined using the first byte, and various patterns can be handled.

  In this embodiment, a disc identifier and a disc structure different from those in the third embodiment are shown for the optical disc 100 ′ shown in FIG.

  FIG. 7 shows the disk identifier and disk structure of this embodiment.

  The disc identifier is “RX4” for both BCA and PIC. The first byte “R” indicates that the BD-R is disposed at the innermost position from the surface of the disk, and “X” indicates BD-RE, BD as the disk surface approaches the BD-R medium. -Indicates that the media are arranged in the order of ROM, and "4" indicates that the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 'is four. The “4” may be “Q” of QL.

  That is, in the disc identifier, information indicating all medium types and arrangement order of the optical disc 100 ′ and information indicating the total number of all recording layers are recorded. Also, a 1-byte ASCII code corresponding to a combination of a plurality of medium types is recorded in the disc identifier.

  On the other hand, the disk structure differs between PIC and BCA. Among these, the PIC disk structure is “SL / R” for the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-R, “DL / RE” for the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-RE, and “PIC / DL” of the recording layer of the BD-ROM. “SL / ROM”. On the other hand, the disk structure of BCA is “QL / R + RE + ROM”. The PIC information represents the number of recording layers and the medium type of each medium, and the BCA information represents the total number of recording layers and the type of all media. For example, in BCA, since the total number of layers is four, it is QL, which represents having three media of R, RE, and ROM.

  That is, in the present optical disc 100 ′, information indicating what kind of medium the layer has in the disk structure included in the PIC of a certain recording layer and information indicating how many recording layers have the same medium type. Is recorded.

  Further, in the present optical disc 100 ′, information indicating the sum of the number of all recording layers of the optical disc 100 ′ and the recording layer of which medium type is included in the optical disc 100 ′ in the disc structure included in the BCA. The information shown is recorded.

  Thereby, the optical disc apparatus can know the entire configuration of the optical disc 100 ′ inserted by reading the BCA or PIC. Even if either BCA or PIC cannot be reproduced due to scratches or dirt, if one of them can be read, the entire configuration of the disc can be known.

  In the above example, the second byte “X” of the disc identifier defines that the second and third media are BD-RE and BD-ROM. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the second byte is “Y” and the second and third media are defined as BD-ROM and BD-RE. Including cases.

  In this embodiment, a medium called BD-RE or BD-ROM is defined as “X” and used for the second and third media from the back with respect to the surface of the optical disc 100 ′. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the definitions of the first and second media from the back, such as “XR1”, may be used in combination.

  Further, in the above example, it has been described that the second byte “X” of the disc identifier is information corresponding to a combination of BD-RE and BD-ROM. However, the disk identifier is not limited to this example, and a combination of a plurality of medium types and their arrangement order may be indicated by a 1-byte ASCII code. For example, the letter “X” may indicate that the optical disc 100 ′ has a BD-ROM and a BD-RE from the back side. Further, for example, the letter “Z” may indicate that a BD-RE and a BD-ROM are provided from the back side of the optical disc 100 ′. This can further increase the amount of information that can be detected from the disc identifier.

  Further, in the above example, as a certain recording layer is located in the back with respect to the disk surface, a byte to which a character or information indicating a medium type is assigned is a higher byte. However, the present optical disk is not limited to this, and the byte to which the character or information indicating the medium type is assigned as the lower byte as the recording layer on the disk surface becomes deeper.

  In addition, the ASCII code indicating the combination may not only indicate a combination of two types of media but also define a combination of three or more types of media. Also, two codes that define combinations such as “XY2” may be used. As a result, the types and arrangements of the media of the optical disc 100 ′ can be expressed more.

  In the present embodiment, unlike the third embodiment, in the PIC disc information, the disc identifier is divided into general information on the optical disc 100 ′, and the disc structure is separated from the information on the medium.

  In this embodiment, a disc identifier and a disc structure for the optical disc 100 ′ shown in FIG. 5 are shown.

  FIG. 8 shows the disk identifier and disk structure of this embodiment.

  The disc identifier is different between PIC and BCA, and the disc structure of the PIC is “K1Q” in the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-R, “K2Q” in the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-RE, and the recording layer of the BD-ROM In this PIC, “K3Q” is set, and the BCA disk structure is set to “BKQ”. Here, in the PIC disc identifier, the first byte “K”, which is the most significant byte, is arranged in the order of BD-R, BD-RE, and BD-ROM from the back of the optical disc 100 ′. Represents that. Further, for example, in the case of BD-R, “1” in the second byte indicates that the medium is arranged first from the back, and “Q” indicates the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 ′.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the 1-byte ASCII code in the disc identifier in each recording layer indicates the combination and arrangement order of the medium types provided in the optical disc 100 ′. Further, it indicates the number of medium type in which the 1-byte ASCII code is arranged in the arrangement order.

  In the BCA disc identifier, “K” in the first byte represents the same meaning as PIC, and “Q” represents the same meaning as PIC. In the PIC, the configuration of the optical disc 100 ′ can be read from the first code, the type of the medium can be shown from its definition, and the total number of recording layers can be read.

  In addition to this embodiment, the one-byte ASCII code included in the disc identifier may indicate the combination of medium types, the arrangement order, and the medium type arranged in the arrangement order. Good. For example, “L” indicates that the optical disc 100 ′ has BD-R, BD-RE, and BD-ROM in order from the back side, and further, “L” indicates a recording layer on which “L” is recorded. The first recording layer (BD-R layer) in the sequence may be indicated. Further, for example, “M” indicates that the optical disc 100 ′ has BD-R, BD-RE, and BD-ROM in order from the back side. Furthermore, “M” may be configured to indicate that the recording layer on which “M” is recorded is the second recording layer (BD-RE layer) in the order. With such a configuration, more information can be recorded in the disc identifier.

  The disk structure is the same as in the fourth embodiment.

  The arrangement of the three ASCII codes of the disc identifier may be interchanged.

  If the method of this embodiment is used, more information can be given to the disc identifier.

  In this embodiment, a disc identifier and a disc structure for the optical disc 100 ′ shown in FIG. 5 are shown.

  FIG. 9 shows the disk identifier and disk structure of this embodiment.

  The disc identifier is different between PIC and BCA, and is “K1S” for the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-R, “K2D” for the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-RE, and “K3S” for the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-ROM. And the BCA disk structure is “BKQ”. In the PIC information, the first byte “K”, which is the most significant byte, indicates that the medium is arranged in the order of BD-R, BD-RE, and BD-ROM from the back of the optical disc 100 ′. Further, “1” of the second byte in the information identifier of the BD-R represents that the medium is the first arrangement from the back, and “S” represents the number of recording layers of the medium. In the BCA identifier, “K” in the first byte represents the same meaning as PIC, and “Q” represents the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 ′. The disc identifier of the PIC indicates the medium configuration of the optical disc 100 ′ by the first code, can read the type of the medium from the definition, and also indicates the number of recording layers.

  The disc structure is “QL / R + RE + ROM” for both PIC and BCA, “QL” represents four layers, which is the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 ′, and “R + RE + ROM” is all types of media possessed by the optical disc 100 ′. Represents.

  In this embodiment, a disc identifier and a disc structure for the optical disc 100 ′ shown in FIG. 5 are shown.

  FIG. 13 shows the disk identifier and disk structure of this embodiment.

  In the disc identifier of the PIC, “BRS” is used in the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-R. This means that “R” means BD-R, and “S” means that the recording layer of the medium is one layer. Similarly, “BWD” is set for the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-RE, and “BOS” is set for the PIC of the recording layer of the BD-ROM.

  The disc identifier of BCA is “BDH”, indicating that the optical disc 100 ′ is a hybrid disc.

  That is, the PIC information represents the type of each medium and the number of recording layers, and the BCA information represents that the optical disc 100 ′ is a hybrid disc. In the above case, “W” represents BD-RE, “O” represents BD-ROM, and “H” represents a hybrid disc. A code such as “S” or “D” indicates that the number of recording layers of the medium is one or two, but may be “1” or “2” indicating the number of layers itself. In addition, “B” is B of BD, but it is not necessary to be particular about this.

  That is, in PIC, information indicating the medium type of the recording layer and information indicating the number of layers are recorded in the disc identifier of a certain recording layer.

  In BCA, information indicating that the disc is a hybrid disc including recording layers of a plurality of medium types is recorded in the disc identifier.

  On the other hand, the disk structure is “TL / R + RE + ROM” for both BCA and PIC. “TL” represents that the total number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 ′ is three, and “R + RE + ROM” is a combination of the recording layers of the optical disc 100 ′ BD-R, BD-RE, and BD-ROM. Represents that.

  That is, in the disc structure, information indicating the number of all recording layers and information indicating the medium type of the optical disc 100 ′ are recorded.

  Here, as a method of representing R + RE + ROM in the disk structure, it is assumed that 3 bits represent ROM, R, and RE in 1-byte information, respectively, and a medium having 1 bit in the information is the optical disk 100 ′. For example, a recording layer can be considered.

  As described above, in Embodiments 1 to 7, the disk identifier and the disk structure corresponding to a recording layer of a certain medium type are described as being recorded on the recording layer of the certain medium type. However, the optical disk of the present embodiment is not limited to this. For example, in the present optical disc, a disc identifier or disc structure corresponding to a recording layer of a certain medium type may be recorded on a recording layer of another medium type. For example, a disc identifier and a disc structure corresponding to the contents of the BD-R layer may be recorded in a PIC or wobble of the BD-RE layer. Further, the optical disc may be configured such that a plurality of sets of disc information are recorded on a predetermined recording layer after disc information corresponding to one recording layer is used as one set of disc information.

  This is specifically shown by using the optical disc 100 ′ ″ of FIG. The BCA area contains BCA disc information, the PIC area A contains BD-RE disc information, the PIC area B and PIC area C contain BD-ROM disc information, and PIC The area D contains BD-R disc information. Here, if the PIC area A also contains BD-ROM and BD-R disc information, the PIC area A contains information on the types of recording layers and the number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 ″ ″. Thus, the optical disc apparatus can read all types of recording layers and the number of recording layers of the optical disc 100 ″ ″ only by reading the information in the PIC area A.

  Having a plurality of pieces of disk information is not limited to the PIC area A. Also, BCA disc information may be added.

  When the optical disc has such a configuration, the optical disc apparatus can acquire a plurality of sets of disc information from a predetermined layer. Further, the optical disc apparatus can read all the recording layer configurations of the optical disc from a plurality of sets of disc information. Specifically, it becomes possible for the optical disc apparatus to read all types of recording layers and the number of recording layers of the optical disc.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the structures of the optical disks 100 and 100 ′, 100 ″, 100 ′ ″ have been described. In this embodiment, an optical disk apparatus that performs recording or reproduction on the above-described optical disks 100 and 100 ', 100' ', 100' '' will be described. The optical disk apparatus needs to access a predetermined recording layer both when recording information and when reproducing information. The optical disc apparatus according to the present embodiment performs an access operation to the optical disc 100 by acquiring the disc identifier, the disc structure, or the recording layer information described in any one of the first to seventh embodiments. In addition, the optical disc apparatus according to the present embodiment acquires a disc identifier or a disc structure in the setup process when the optical disc 100 is mounted. Here, the setup process is various adjustment processes for enabling reproduction of user data on the optical disc 100 or recording of user data. Further, the setup process may be paraphrased as a disk loading process or a loading process. Further, the following description is given taking the optical disc 100 as an example, but it goes without saying that the same applies to the optical discs 100 ′, 100 ″, 100 ′ ″.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the optical disc apparatus of the present embodiment.

  The optical disk 100 is an optical disk having two or more types of media. Information is read, erased, and written by the laser light irradiation from the optical pickup 110, and receives a spindle motor drive signal from the system control means 120. Rotated by the spindle motor 101 driven by the spindle motor driving means 121.

  The laser light emitted from the laser light source 111 is condensed as an optical spot on the information recording surface of the optical disc 100 by the objective lens 113 moved by the actuator 112, reflected by the information recording surface of the optical disc 100, and detected by the photodetector 114. Is done.

  A signal generation unit 122 generates a reproduction signal of information recorded on the optical disc 100 and a servo control error signal from the signal detected by the photodetector 114.

  Information on the optical disc 100 is reproduced from the reproduction signal generated by the signal generation unit 122 by the information reproduction unit in the system control unit 120. Further, data is recorded in the recordable area of the optical disc 100 by the information recording means in the system control means 120.

  Although not shown, the optical pickup 110 is also equipped with other elements for performing aberration correction and polarization.

  The actuator 112 is driven by the actuator driving unit 123 that receives the driving signal output from the system control unit 120, and moves the objective lens 113 in the substantially focus direction and the substantially radial direction of the optical disc 100.

  Laser power of the laser light source 111 is set by a laser driving unit 124 that receives a signal from the system control unit 120.

  In the optical disk apparatus of this embodiment, after the optical disk 100 is loaded, the BCA determines that the loaded optical disk 100 is an optical disk having recording layers of two or more medium types, and then determines the type of medium the optical disk 100 has. Of these, the power that matches the smallest laser power is set.

  An example of the laser power setting process by the optical disc apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the BCA information described in any of the first to seventh embodiments is confirmed (step 11-1). The medium is recognized as a hybrid disk and the medium of the optical disk 100 is read (step 11-2). The optimum laser power is set to the lowest laser power for the medium (step 11-3).

  If the smallest laser power cannot be found by simply reading the BCA disk information, the setting is made after reading the PIC disk information.

  When the adjustment is completed and recording or reproduction is possible, the optical disc apparatus records or reproduces information in accordance with a command from the host (step 11-4).

  Thereby, the risk of erasing or rewriting the recording data of all the recording layers can be reduced.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

  In the above embodiment, it is assumed that a plurality of medium types are included in one optical disk. However, information can be further increased by using the present invention for the same optical disk of one medium type. Easy to use.

  In addition, each of the above-described configurations may be configured such that some or all of them are configured by hardware, or are implemented by executing a program by a processor. Further, the control lines and information lines indicate what is considered necessary for the explanation, and not all the control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. Actually, it may be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Optical disk, 100 '... Optical disk, 100 "... Optical disk, 100"' ... Optical disk, 101 ... Spindle motor, 110 ... Optical pick-up, 111 ... Laser light source, 112 ... Actuator, 113 ... Objective lens, 114 ... Optical detection 120 ... System control means 121 ... Spindle motor drive means 122 ... Signal generation means 123 ... Actuator drive means 124 ... Laser drive means

Claims (18)

A data area, a management information area for recording disc identification information and disc structure information indicating characteristics of the recording medium, and an optical disc having recording layers of a plurality of medium types,
The disc identification information and the disc structure information include information indicating the medium type of the recording layer of the optical disc, information indicating the total number of recording layers of the optical disc, and information indicating the number of recording layers of each medium type. An optical disc comprising: The optical disc according to claim 1,
The optical disc includes a management information area corresponding to each medium type,
The disc identification information included in the management information area corresponding to a certain media type includes information indicating all media types in the optical disc and the number of recording layers of the media type. The optical disc according to claim 1,
The disc identification information is composed of three ASCII codes.   4. The optical disk according to claim 3, wherein two of the three ASCII codes indicate a medium type of the optical disk, and one indicates the total number of recording layers.   4. The optical disc according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the three ASCII codes indicates a combination of two or more medium types. The optical disc according to claim 3,
The optical disc includes a management information area corresponding to each medium type,
In the management information area corresponding to a certain medium type, one of the three ASCII codes, one indicates the number of recording layers of the medium type, and two indicates the medium type possessed by the optical disk. The optical disc according to claim 3,
The optical disc includes a management information area corresponding to each medium type,
In the management information area corresponding to a certain medium type, one of the three ASCII codes indicates information on all medium types and arrangement relation of the optical disc, and one indicates the arrangement of the recording layer of the certain medium type on the optical disc. An optical disc characterized by showing: A data area, a management information area for recording disc identification information and disc structure information indicating characteristics of the recording medium, and an optical disc having recording layers of a plurality of medium types,
The disc identification information and the disc structure information are information indicating the medium type of the recording layer of the optical disc, information indicating the total number of recording layers of the optical disc, information indicating the number of recording layers of each medium type, An optical disc comprising information indicating a positional relationship of media. The optical disc according to claim 8,
The optical disc includes a management information area corresponding to each medium type,
The disc identification information in the management information area corresponding to a certain medium type includes information indicating the number of recording layers of the certain medium type, information indicating the arrangement of the recording layer of the certain medium type on the optical disc, and all the information on the optical disc. An optical disc characterized by including information indicating a medium type. The optical disc according to claim 8,
The disc identification information is composed of three ASCII codes. The optical disc according to claim 10,
The optical disc includes a management information area corresponding to each medium type,
In the management information area corresponding to a certain media type,
Of the three ASCII codes, two indicate the medium type of the optical disk, and one indicates the number of all recording layers. The optical disc according to claim 10,
The optical disc includes a management information area corresponding to each medium type,
An optical disc characterized in that, in a management information area corresponding to a certain medium type, one of the three ASCII codes indicates a combination of two or more medium types. The optical disc according to claim 10,
The optical disc includes a management information area corresponding to each medium type,
In the management information area corresponding to a certain medium type, two of the three ASCII codes indicate the medium type possessed by the optical disk, and one indicates the number of recording layers of the certain medium type. The optical disc according to claim 10,
The optical disc includes a management information area corresponding to each medium type,
In the management information area corresponding to a certain medium type, one of the three ASCII codes indicates information on all medium types and arrangement relation of the optical disc, and one indicates the arrangement of the recording layer of the certain medium type on the optical disc. An optical disc characterized by showing: The optical disc according to claim 10,
The optical disc includes a management information area corresponding to each medium type,
In a management information area corresponding to a certain medium type, one of the three ASCII codes indicates information on the number of recording layers of the medium, and at least one of the remaining two indicates information on the medium type of the optical disc. An optical disc characterized by An optical disc apparatus for reproducing information from an optical disc using laser light or recording information on an optical disc,
A light emitting unit for emitting laser light;
An objective lens for condensing the laser beam;
An actuator for driving the objective lens;
A detection unit for detecting reflected light from the optical disc;
With
When the optical disc is an optical disc having recording layers of a plurality of medium types, an optimum laser power among the recording layers of the plurality of medium types is read after reading the disc information of the optical disc in the loading process after loading the optical disc. An optical disc apparatus characterized in that the loading process is continued with a laser power corresponding to a medium type having the smallest size. A reproduction method for reproducing information from an optical disc having a recording layer of a plurality of medium types using laser light,
From the disc identification information or the disc structure information recorded on the optical disc, information indicating the media type of the recording layer of the optical disc, information indicating the total number of recording layers of the optical disc, and recording of each media type Obtaining information indicating the number of layers;
And a step of reproducing information. A recording method for recording information on an optical disc having recording layers of a plurality of medium types using laser light,
From the disc identification information or the disc structure information recorded on the optical disc, information indicating the media type of the recording layer of the optical disc, information indicating the total number of recording layers of the optical disc, and recording of each media type Obtaining information indicating the number of layers;
And a step of recording information.

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