WO2008053434A2

WO2008053434A2 - Optical disc deterioration detection method

Info

Publication number: WO2008053434A2
Application number: PCT/IB2007/054414
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yu Zhou; Tek Seow Loi
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV
Current assignee: Koninklijke Philips NV
Priority date: 2006-10-31
Filing date: 2007-10-31
Publication date: 2008-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 2009-04-30
Also published as: TW200842846A; WO2008053434A3

Abstract

A method (300) of determining a deterioration parameter of an optical record carrier (10) based on an optical record carrier characteristics signal parameter value obtained from multiple readout parameters upon inserting the optical record carrier (10) into a drive (100) is disclosed which is useful for optical discs such as CD's, DVD's and BD's, gives an early indication of optical record carrier deterioration and extends the lifetime of the optical record carrier (10).

Description

Optical disc deterioration detection method

FIELD OF THE INVENTION:

The subject matter relates to optical discs, and more specifically to detection of optical disc deterioration.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

US patent 2006/0158986 discloses a method of inspecting a phase change type optical recording medium. The method repetitively performs an overwrite operation on a track using a laser power that is higher than the laser power value at which jitter of a regenerative signal becomes minimum at room temperature. The method further requires measuring a jitter value of the regenerative signal after performing overwrite for a given number of times and judging whether or not the measured jitter value is equal to or smaller than a reference value. The jitter value does not give a good indication of record carrier deterioration and the results are not accurate.

It would be advantageous to have a method and a drive that accurately detects record carrier deterioration that can be used to extend the lifetime of the record carrier.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: A method that determines a deterioration parameter of an optical record carrier based on an optical record carrier characteristics signal parameter value obtained from multiple readout parameters upon inserting the optical record carrier into a drive is disclosed.

An optical drive comprising a deterioration parameter determining unit arranged to determine a deterioration parameter of an optical record carrier based on an optical record carrier characteristics signal parameter value obtained from multiple readout parameters upon inserting the optical record carrier into the drive is disclosed.

Furthermore, the method of determining a deterioration parameter of an optical record carrier can be implemented with a computer program. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

The above mentioned aspects, features and advantages will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numerals indicate identical or similar parts, and in which:

Fig. 1 shows an example of a schematic block diagram of a drive used for recording/reading data from an optical record carrier;

Fig. 2 schematically illustrates HF signal performance v/s direct overwrite (DOW) cycle times for an example DVD disc;

Fig. 3 shows an example of a flowchart illustrating detailed steps of the method of determining a deterioration parameter of an optical record carrier; and Fig. 4 schematically illustrates the determination of reflectivity signal values for an example DVD disc.

A record carrier, e.g. a DVD, comprises at least one track either in the form of a continuous spiral or in the form of multiple concentric circles, wherein information may be stored in the form of a data pattern. The record carrier may be of a Recordable (R) or a Rewritable (RW) type, wherein information may be stored or recorded, such as DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R, BD-RE (single and multilayer). The information is generally recorded / played back by using radiation beams such as laser beams.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing structures of an example drive 100 used for recording/reading an optical rewritable record carrier 10. The optical rewritable record carrier 10 is constant angular velocity (CAV) controlled or constant linear velocity (CLV) controlled by a spindle motor 12. It is noted here that the reference numeral 10 refers to an optical rewritable record carrier throughout the document and the subject matter disclosed in the document relates to optical rewritable record carrier.

An optical pick-up unit 14 records data on the optical record carrier 10 by using laser light (at a recording power value) emitted from a laser diode. When the data is to be recorded, it is supplied to an encoder unit 18 and the data encoded by the encoder unit 18 is supplied to a laser diode-driving unit 16. The laser diode-driving unit 16 generates a drive signal based on the encoded data and supplies the drive signal to the laser diode of the optical pick-up unit 14. In addition, a control signal from a control unit 24 is supplied to the laser diode-driving unit 16 so that the recording strategy and recording power are determined by the control signal.

However, when data is read from the optical record carrier 10, the laser diode of the optical pick-up unit 14 emits laser light of a read power (read power < record power), and the reflected light is received. The received reflected light is converted into an electrical signal and a read RF signal is obtained. The read RF signal is supplied to an RF signal- processing unit 20.

The RF signal-processing unit 20 comprises an equalizer, a binarizing unit, a phase-locked loop (PLL) unit, and binarizes the read RF signal, generates a synchronous clock, and supplies these signals to a decoder unit 22. The decoder unit 22 decodes data based on these supplied signals and outputs the decoded data as read data.

The read RF signal from the RF signal-processing unit 20 is also supplied to the control unit 24 for evaluating the read signal quality. The drive 100 also includes a circuit (for data readout) for controlling the focus servo or tracking servo by producing a tracking error signal or a focus error signal respectively, and a wobble signal formed on the optical rewritable record carrier 10 (e.g. for use in address demodulation or for controlling the number of rotations). The servo control structures are identical to those in conventional drive systems and therefore are not described in detail. The construction shown in Fig. 1 only illustrates portions related to the general operation of the drive. The description and detailed explanation of servo circuits for controlling the optical pick-up unit, the spindle motor, the slide motor, and the control circuits are omitted, because they are constructed in a similar manner as in conventional systems. The optical record carrier 10 deterioration rate depends on the optical record carrier manufacturing process and the recoding layer material used (e.g. for a phase-change rewritable record carrier). After a large number of overwrites, there may be a number of changes in the microstructure of the optical record carrier 10, in particular the recording layer, such as the presence of gas-filled voids in the centre of the groove. The record carrier deterioration is reflected in a HF jitter signal increase, a block error rate count increase, and a reflectivity signal (Rl 4H) decrease.

Fig. 2 shows a general trend of a recorded HF signal block error rate, a HF jitter signal, a parity outer (PO) uncorrectable error, and a reflectivity signal (Rl 4H- reflection efficiency measured at radial positions) with an increase of overwrite and erase times. Direct overwrite (DOW) is the number of times a rewritable optical record carrier 10 can be written and erased. As shown in Fig. 2, the block error rate and the HF jitter signal increases with increase of direct overwrite cycles, and reflectivity signal (Rl 4H) level decreases with an increase of direct overwrite cycles. When the direct overwrite cycle reaches a certain level and the rewritable optical record carrier 10 (Cf. Fig. 1) surface has degraded the degradation of the rewritable optical record carrier 10 starts to cause parity outer (PO) uncorrectable errors during readout of data, which eventually lead to inability of the drive 100 (Cf. Fig. 1) to read that particular area.

When the rewritable optical record carrier 10 is used to record half- hour segments in the SP mode (SP refers to the single play recording mode according to DVD video format standard and denotes the bit rate used for encoding video to provide two hours of recording time on a single-layer DVD of 4.5GB), the rewritable optical record carrier 10 is recorded four times before using up the entire data area. The user's perception is that the rewritable optical record carrier 10 has been used one time but, in reality, the file system has already been updated four times. In the case of an inefficient back-end application, the file system may be updated two or three times more, resulting in twelve times overwrite. This means that the file system area may have reached the direct overwrite cycles of 1000 or more, while the data area, which occupies most of the record carrier space, may have been written in less than 500 direct overwrite cycles. Furthermore, the file system area may have a record carrier deterioration problem, than the other area and the user starts to see the rewritable optical record carrier 10 read and write problem much earlier than what is claimed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS:

Efforts have been made to improve the optical rewritable record carrier 10 (cf.

Fig. 1) direct overwrite (DOW) cycles, which is the number of times a rewritable record carrier can be written and erased. According to the DVD+RW standard, the rewritable record carrier 10 should support (when all parameters are within their specified ranges) up to about

1000 direct overwrite cycles when recording with optimal recording power. Efforts to increase rewritable record carrier direct overwrite cycles have concentrated on write strategy improvement and write power reduction. The method disclosed in US patent 2006/0158986 uses jitter signal as an indicator of record carrier deterioration. Jitter alone does not give a good indication of deterioration of the record carrier quality, and the results are not accurate.

A method 300 of accurately detecting optical record carrier deterioration is described. The method comprises determining a deterioration parameter of an optical record carrier 10 based on an optical record carrier characteristics signal parameter value obtained from multiple readout parameters upon inserting the optical record carrier 10 into a drive

100. The method of using jitter alone could lead to false alarm (of optical record carrier deterioration). It is known that jitter increase may be due to various factors such as poor write strategies, or poor system performance or poor record carrier quality. It is to be noted that a high jitter level does not imply a very high block error rate level, or vice versa. The use of multiple readout parameters to judge the optical record carrier deterioration provides more accurate and reliable results.

In an embodiment, the multiple readout parameters includes at least one of i) a HF jitter signal value ii) a block error rate count value and iii) a reflectivity signal value and the at least one readout parameter is determined in a file system area of the optical record carrier during startup. The three signals namely i) the HF jitter signal value ii) the block error rate count value and iii) the reflectivity signal value are used as indicators to assess the optical record carrier deterioration. Typically, the optical record carrier gets deteriorated due to repeatable overwrite, the recorded HF jitter signal and the block error rate level increases and the record carrier reflectivity (in %) decreases. The use of the reflectivity signal (R14H) enhances the accuracy of determining the record carrier deterioration.

Furthermore, the HF jitter signal, the block error rate count and the reflectivity signal are determined in a file system area of the optical record carrier 10 during start-up. The file system area of the optical rewritable record carrier 10 will usually be overwritten three to four times more frequently than the data area. Hence, determining the HF jitter signal, the block error rate count and the reflectivity signal in the file system area of the optical record carrier 10 ensures a reliable detection and an early indication of the optical record carrier deterioration.

In a still further embodiment, determining the HF jitter signal, the block error rate count and the reflectivity signal in the file system area of the optical record carrier 10 during the start-up includes the following two steps:

Step 1 : Reading from the optical record carrier 10 i) a HF jitter signal value ii) a block error rate count value and iii) a reflectivity signal value every millisecond for a predetermined number of revolutions; and

Step 2: Calculating i) an average HF jitter signal value ii) an average block error rate count value and iii) an average reflectivity signal value using the read HF jitter signal value, the block error rate count value and the reflectivity signal value obtained every millisecond.

The entire optical record carrier deterioration detection is carried out continuously over a predetermined number of revolutions and the average values are considered. Averaging filters out the influence of optical record carrier defects and makes the measurement results more accurate. The predetermined number of revolutions can be around ten.

In a still further embodiment, the method includes checking for a predetermined condition to determine the optical record carrier deterioration. This includes determining whether the average reflectivity signal value is less than a reflectivity threshold; if so, determining whether i) the average HF jitter signal value is greater than a jitter threshold and ii) the average block error rate count is greater than a block error rate count threshold; and if so, declaring the record carrier as deteriorated. A pseudo-code representation of the optical record carrier deterioration check is given below: If (average reflectivity signal < reflectivity threshold) then {If ((average HF jitter signal > jitter threshold) AND (average block error rate count > block error rate count threshold)) then {optical record carrier deteriorated} } The predetermined condition to determine the optical record carrier deterioration is based on the investigation results. It has been found that the HF jitter and the block error rate increases and the reflectivity signal decreases when the optical record carrier 10 starts to deteriorate. The use of all the three (the HF jitter, the block error rate count and the reflectivity signal) to detect the optical record carrier deterioration status is accurate as compared to considering jitter alone or block error rate alone. High jitter but low block error rate or high block error rate but low jitter could be caused due to drive differences. Furthermore, in some cases, the optical record carrier's comparatively high jitter and high block error rate with reflectivity signal well above certain level could be caused due to differences in write strategies (i.e. not good enough write strategies). Therefore, in the disclosed method the reflectivity signal is used before checking for the jitter and the block error rate levels. The reflectivity signal is not as sensitive to optical record carrier deterioration as compared to the jitter and the block error rate. The decrease of the reflectivity signal value is not obvious for certain optical record carriers. In order to accurately detect the optical record carrier deterioration (of such media) a higher jitter and block error rate threshold level are set (based on investigation results).

In a still further embodiment, the method includes determining whether the average reflectivity signal value is greater than a reflectivity threshold; if so, determining whether i) the average HF jitter signal value is greater than about 14% and ii) the average block error rate count is greater than about 500; and if so, declaring the optical record carrier as deteriorated. A pseudo-code representation is as given below: If (average reflectivity signal > reflectivity threshold) then if ((average HF jitter signal > 14% ) AND (average block error rate count > 500 )) then {optical record carrier deteriorated}

Fig. 3 shows an example of a flowchart illustrating the detailed steps of the optical record carrier deterioration method which is described below: a) In step 302, the optical record carrier 10 (Cf. Fig.l) is inserted into the drive 100 (Cf. Fig. 1) and the optical record carrier deterioration procedure is initialized. The counter is initialized to zero and a search for a start location on the optical record carrier 10 is performed. b) In step 304, angular interrupt is enabled for every revolution of the optical record carrier 10 and the number of samples is counted. c) In step 306, a HF jitter signal, a parity inner (PI) sum, Al value (Cf. Fig. 4), A2 value (Cf. Fig. 4) and the CALF value (Cf. Fig. 4) are read back every millisecond from the decoder register of the drive 100. d) In step 308, a check is carried on whether the optical record carrier 10 has completed ten revolutions. e) If the optical record carrier 10 has completed ten revolutions, in step 310, the average HF jitter signal value, the average block error rate count and the average reflectivity signal value (R 14H) are calculated. If the optical record carrier 10 has not completed ten revolutions, steps 306 and 308 are repeated till the optical record carrier 10 has completed ten revolutions. f) In step 312, if a predetermined condition is satisfied, the optical record carrier 10 is declared as deteriorated.

In essence, during the start-up and after optical record carrier recognition, an optical record carrier deterioration process is conducted in the file system area (e.g. PSN 0x30000 to 0x34000 for recordable and rewritable DVDs. This address range is reserved for writing the file system according to DVD+R video format specifications). The deterioration is determined by measuring the HF jitter signal, the block error rate count and the reflectivity signal. The signals are sampled every millisecond for ten revolutions in order to reduce the measurement noise. Once the HF signal in the file system area meets the predetermined condition, the optical record carrier 10 has a sign of deterioration and the file system may not be good enough to be used anymore.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates the determination of reflectivity signal values for an example DVD disc. As shown in Fig. 4, the vertical axis represents the amplitude and the horizontal axis represents the time. CALF is the average value of the HF signal, Ai_peak is the maximum peak of the HF signal amplitude, A2_peakis the minimum HF signal amplitude, and

Al = A_lpeak ~ CALF;

The reflectivity signal R14H is measured by using the sampled HF Al, A2 and CALF signal as follows: Rl 4H = 114H / DVD MIRN C ALIBRATED, wherein 114H represents the reflection efficiency, and

R14H = (Al+ CALF)/ DVD MIRN CALIBRATED

Here, DVD MIRN CABLIBRATED represents the average I14H or the average reflection efficiency measured on a MIRN disc. Different types of disc such as DVD-ROM, DVD+.RW, DVD+R DL have different DVD MIRN CALIBRATED values and should be calibrated during production of the disc with the corresponding mirror DVD- ROM, DVD+.RW, DVD+R DL discs. DVD MIRN CALIBRATED is calibrated during disc production, using a DVD mirror disc, and is stored in the drive optical pick-up unit or EEPROM. The calibrated DVD MIRN CALIBRATED value is used as a reference to calculate the disc reflectivity in %.

In a still further embodiment, the jitter threshold, the block error rate count threshold and the reflectivity threshold are determined on the basis of characteristics of i) the optical record carrier 10 ii) the decoder 22 (Cf. Fig. 1) used to decode the HF jitter signal value, the block error rate count value, and the reflectivity signal value. The jitter and block error rate level could be different based on the design of the decoder. Therefore, determining the jitter threshold, the block error rate count threshold and the reflectivity threshold based on the design of the decoder will give more accurate results.

The threshold levels are decided during i) the optical record carrier 10 production ii) the time when the write strategies for the optical record carrier 10 are adjusted and iii) when direct overwrite performance on the optical record carrier 10 is tested. Based on this information, the threshold levels for each optical record carrier type are determined and stored in the drive non- volatile memory in accordance with the optical record carrier ID. Typically, for the rewritable optical record carriers, the HF jitter signal, the block error rate and the reflectivity signal Rl 4H values are substantially consistent before deterioration and these values may increase rapidly when the optical record carrier starts to show deterioration. The block error rate count can increase approximately by more than 300 counts; the HF jitter signal can increase up to about > 13% and the reflectivity signal value R14H can decrease to a level which is lower than the optical record carrier specification requirement. However, for certain optical record carriers, the decrease of the reflectivity signal value Rl 4H is not obvious and a low reflectivity signal Rl 4 value is caused due to substrate thickness, etc. Hence, the reflectivity signal Rl 4H is used as one of the parameters for judging the optical record carrier deterioration.

In a still further embodiment, the jitter threshold, the block error rate count and the reflectivity threshold are determined before parity outer uncorrectable errors occur on the optical record carrier. We cannot use parity outer uncorrectable errors, because at the time when the file system starts to see such errors, the drive 100 may be unable to read and the optical record carrier 10 cannot be used anymore. The optical record carrier deterioration method should be able to detect the optical record carrier deterioration at a slightly earlier stage before the optical record carrier 10 cannot be used anymore. Hence, the thresholds, namely the jitter threshold, the block error rate count threshold and the reflectivity threshold are set at a slightly earlier stage before the user starts to see uncorrectable errors. This has the advantage that it leaves some direct overwrite cycles for subsequent data management to extend the optical record carrier life time. In a still further embodiment, the jitter threshold, the block error rate threshold, and the reflectivity threshold are stored in the drive 100 for a plurality of optical record carrier types. It has been observed that approximately 70% of the optical record carriers have the same characteristics and 30% of the optical record carriers characteristics vary considerably. Using one set of threshold values for all optical record carriers may result in the problem of early alarm of optical record carrier deterioration (in certain optical record carriers). This can affect the optical record carrier usage capacity. Hence, it is advantageous to set corresponding threshold values for each optical record carrier, so that optical record carriers of the same type can be used as many times as possible. The lifetime of the optical record carrier 10 (Cf. Fig. 1) is extended by offsetting and replicating complete file system area on the optical record carrier 10 to a new area on the optical record carrier 10 before unloading the optical record carrier 10 from the drive 100 (Cf. Fig. 1). Offsetting and replicating can be performed on determining the deterioration parameter of the optical record carrier 10. The method is able to extend the rewritable optical record carrier 10 lifetime by at least two times. Furthermore, the offsetting and replicating process can be carried out by the drive.

Table 1 File system management structure for an exemplary DVD+RW and DVD-RW disc

Table 1 shows the file system management structure allocation for an example DVD+RW disc and a DVD-RW disc. In the case of DVD+RW discs, the new file system area is located from PSN 0x26480 to 0x2A480 denoted as newFSA. While the disc is in the recorder, all accesses to PSN 0x30000 to 0x34000 denoted as oldFSA may be accessing the newFSA. Before the disc is ejected, the entire content of the newFSA is copied to the oldFSA. This enables the disc to be played back on normal DVD players. In the event that the disc is recorded and ejected for every single title (i.e. the oldFSA may be constantly updated), the oldFSA can eventually deteriorate until it cannot be read back successfully. When this happens, playback on normal DVD players is no longer possible but all recording and playback operations can still be carried out in the recorder using the newFSA. It is possible to extend the use of the rewritable optical record carrier about 900 to 1200 direct overwrite cycles.

Referring to Fig, 1, the drive 100 can be adapted to perform the method of detecting optical record carrier deterioration as disclosed in the above embodiments. To this end, the control unit 24 is arranged to determine a deterioration parameter of the optical record carrier 10 as disclosed in the above embodiments. The control unit 24 includes a HF jitter signal measurement unit 24A arranged to measure the HF jitter signal. The control unit 24 further includes a block error rate count measurement unit 24B arranged to measure the block error count of the read data. The control unit 24 further includes a reflectivity signal measurement unit 24C arranged to measure the reflectivity signal value. This includes the measurement of the Al value, the A2 value and the CALF value as shown in Fig. 4. The control unit 24 further includes an optical record carrier deterioration parameter determining unit 24D arranged to determine the optical record carrier deterioration based on the HF jitter signal value, the block error rate count value and the reflectivity signal value. The method of detecting optical record carrier deterioration is applicable for consumer electronics recorders. In a consumer electronics recorder the file system area is generally allocated in the fixed position of 0x030000 to 0x034000. This may lead to "early" media deterioration in this area and can lead to the problem that the disc cannot be used anymore for overwrite operations. In the case of a data drive, the file system area is not always fixed in one area and there is no particular area that will always have much more overwrite times than the other areas. The direct overwrite across the disc can be well- distributed and may not face the problem of "early" media deterioration in the file system area as a recorder in consumer electronics. Furthermore, even if the drive encounters a problem of localized media deterioration, the solution required can be different. In such a scenario, the drive can employ an alternative defect management solution such as DVD+MRW (mount rainer) format.

Although the subject matter has been explained with reference to embodiments using DVD discs, it is applicable to all types of record carriers, e.g. write-many recordable types (DVD-RW, DVD+RW, Blu-ray discs). It is not limited to a two-layer one- sided record carrier, i.e. a dual-layer record carrier or to a two-layer double- sided record carrier, i.e. a dual-layer double-sided record carrier. A person skilled in the art can implement the described embodiments of the method of detecting optical record carrier deterioration in software or in both hardware and software. Other variations of the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art of practising the claimed subject matter, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appended claims. Use of the verb "comprise" and its conjugates does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those stated in a claim or in the description. Use of the indefinite article "a" or "an" preceding an element or step does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements or steps. The Figures and description are to be regarded as illustrative only and do not limit the scope of the subject matter.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method (300) comprising: determining a deterioration parameter of an optical record carrier (10) based on an optical record carrier characteristics signal parameter value obtained from multiple readout parameters upon inserting the optical record carrier (10) into a drive (100).

2. The method (300) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the multiple readout parameters comprises at least one of a HF jitter signal value, a block error rate count value and a reflectivity signal value and the at least one readout parameter is determined in a file system area of the optical record carrier (10) during startup.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising: reading from the optical record carrier i) the HF jitter signal value ii) the block error rate count value and iii) the reflectivity signal value each millisecond for a predetermined number of revolutions; and calculating i) an average HF jitter signal value ii) an average block error rate count value and iii) an average reflectivity signal value using the read HF jitter signal value, the read block error rate count value and the read reflectivity signal value obtained every millisecond.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, further comprising: determining whether the average reflectivity signal value is less than a reflectivity threshold; if so, determining whether i) the average HF jitter signal value is greater than a jitter threshold and ii) the average block error rate count is greater than a block error rate count threshold; and if so, declaring the optical record carrier (10) as deteriorated.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, further comprising: determining whether the average reflectivity signal value is greater than a reflectivity threshold; if so, determining whether i) the average HF jitter signal value is greater than about 14% and ii) the average block error rate count is greater than about 500; and if so, declaring the optical record carrier (10) as deteriorated.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4 or 5, further comprising: determining the jitter threshold, the block error rate count threshold and the reflectivity threshold based on i) characteristics of the optical record carrier (10) and ii) characteristics of a decoder (22) used to decode the HF jitter signal value, the block error rate count value and the reflectivity signal value.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, further comprising: determining the jitter threshold, the block error rate count threshold and the reflectivity threshold before parity outer uncorrectable errors occur on the optical record carrier.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, further comprising: storing the determined jitter threshold, the determined block error rate count threshold and the determined reflectivity threshold for an optical record carrier type in the drive memory; and using the stored threshold for determining the deterioration parameter of the optical record carrier upon inserting the optical record carrier type into the drive (100).

9. The method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the optical record carrier (10) is a DVD rewritable disc.

10. A method comprising : extending the lifetime of an optical record carrier (10) after the optical record carrier (10) is inserted in a drive (100) by offsetting and replicating complete file system area on the optical record carrier (10) to a new area on the optical record carrier before unloading the optical record carrier from the drive (100).

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the optical record carrier (10) is the optical record carrier as used in any one of the claims 1 to 9.

12. An optical drive (100) comprising: a deterioration parameter determining unit (24D) arranged to determine a a deterioration parameter of an optical record carrier (10) based on an optical record carrier characteristics signal parameter value obtained from multiple readout parameters upon inserting the optical record carrier (10) into the drive (100).

13. The optical drive (100) as claimed in claim 12, wherein the optical drive is either a DVD drive or a BD drive.

14. A computer program comprising program code means to perform a method, the method comprising: determining a deterioration parameter of an optical record carrier (10) based on an optical record carrier characteristics signal parameter value obtained from multiple readout parameters upon inserting the optical record carrier (10) into a drive (100).