Abstract: In a write control method on an optical recording, at least one shift amount selected from the defocus amount of a laser beam on a recording medium, the shift amount of a recording position on a recording track and the shift amount of laser power during recording is controlled such that the selected amount falls within a predetermined range. Subsequently, a trial signal is trially recorded at a plurality of trial zones on the recording medium by using a laser power value as a parameter. The recorded trial signal is read and a difference .DELTA.V between center levels of a highest density waveform and a lowest density waveform is detected. In connection with each trial zone, the laser power value when a reading trial signal which makes the difference .DELTA.V minimum is recorded is defined as an optimum recording power value.

Abstract: A super high density optical disk apparatus is obtained by using an exchangeable recording medium having a recording capacity of at least 1.5 Gb/in.sup.2 in an optical recording and reading apparatus for recording or reading at least using a laser beam or by using one of an element which can record on a recording medium only once and another element which can record at least two times repeatedly as recording elements to be used.

Abstract: A magnetic head is supported with variable stiffness for loading onto the disk surface and unloading off the disk surface. The magnetic head is attached to an end of a thin leaf spring which has been curved in advance, and the leaf spring is interposed between two flat plates, with one of the flat plates being slidable. With the slidable flat plate being moved to the position where the plate overlies a fitting section of the magnetic head, a head support point is provided at a first position with respect to the magnetic head, the thin leaf spring takes an extending straightened state, and at the same time, the thin leaf spring, two flat plates, and magnetic head fitting section form a unitary member with a high stiffness for supporting the magnetic head thereby to load the magnetic head onto the disk surface.

Abstract: An optical method for recording, reproducing, and erasing a digital signal of a mark length recording system onto/from an optical recording medium such as an optical disc or the like eliminates a fluctuation of the edge position of the reproduction signal due to heat interference between pits, thereby reducing a fluctuation of the edge position due to a fluctuation of external environmental conditions. For this purpose, there are proposed the following methods: 1) the shape of the recording pulse waveform is controlled, 2) the density at which data is recorded to the disc is variably set in accordance with the disc position, 3) a test recording is executed prior to recording user data, and the like. With these methods, a superhigh density optical recording can be realized.

Abstract: An optical disk recording control apparatus includes a judgment circuit for judging a modulation system of user information in accordance with identification information possessed by the optical disk and outputting a control signal concerning the modulation system, a test write pattern generating circuit for generating a test write pattern constituted by the densest and sparsest patterns correspondingly to the code configuration of the identified modulation system, a test write pulse recording circuit for generating a test write pulse string from the test write pattern and recording the test write pulse string in a predetermined zone of the optical disk, an optimum recording power calculation circuit for obtaining optimum recording power for the predetermined zone on the basis of a densest pattern waveform and a sparsest pattern waveform so that the zero level of the densest pattern waveform coincides with the zero level of the sparsest pattern waveform in the test write pulse string recorded in the predeterm

Abstract: In a write control method on an optical recording, at least one shift amount selected from the defocus amount of a laser beam on a recording medium, the shift amount of a recording position on a recording track and the shift amount of laser power during recording is controlled such that the selected amount falls within a predetermined range. Subsequently, a trial signal is trially recorded at a plurality of trial zones on the recording medium by using a laser power value as a parameter. The recorded trial signal is read and a difference .DELTA.V between center levels of a highest density waveform and a lowest density waveform is detected. In connection with each trial zone, the laser power value when a reading trial signal which makes the difference .DELTA.V minimum is recorded is defined as an optimum recording power value.

Abstract: An optical recording control method determines an optimum recording laser power by effecting a test recording before information to be recorded is recorded on a disk. The recording laser power is formed of a plurality of powers. A relationship among the plurality of laser powers is regulated by power level ratios between respective powers, whereby a power used when a laser light is radiated on the disk can be controlled to be constant independent of an ambient temperature and a structure of a disk. Therefore, accurate recording marks can be formed on the disk.

Abstract: An information reproducing apparatus is capable of stably and correctly binarizing a signal reproduced from a recording medium, such as an optical disk, even if the reproduced signal contains a fluctuation of its low frequency component. The reproduced signal is replaced by an AC signal in a period other than a period during which the reproduced signal is to be demodulated so that DC fluctuation of the reproduced signal is reduced to thereby stably and correctly binarize the reproduced signal.

Abstract: A magneto-optical disk recording control method using the mark length recording method wherein the marks and gap regions between marks are recorded on the surface of the disk by maintaining a constant temperature distribution during the recording. The laser is driven to a non-recording level in gap regions between marks that exceed a base recording level used for reproduction of the marks. When a mark is recorded, the laser power is increased to a recording power level and after the mark has been recorded, the laser power level is reduced to the base power level, followed by being raised to the gap recording level. Control of the laser is performed by superposing a plurality of pulse trains that are synchronized with respect to a clock having a cycle T. The pulse trains are derived from the code train to be recorded and have pulses with a duration that is an integral multiple of (1/2)T.

Abstract: A signal reproducing system discriminates signals stably in the case of reproducing a signal from an optical recording medium which has coexistent recording areas with the signals recorded in different recording forms therein. Parts that constitute a reproduced signal are respectively derived by corresponding signal detectors from the optical recording medium in which a preformat area and a data area are included as the coexistent recording areas. The average potentials of VFO parts, which are respectively contained in the reproduced signal parts, are detected on the basis of the envelopes of the signal parts by a peak detecting circuit and a bottom detecting circuit. The detected average potentials are compared with a reference voltage, and the resulting difference potentials are added to the reproduced signal by an adder to bring the average potentials of the VFO parts into agreement.

Abstract: According to the present invention, a so-called overwrite operation which records new information while erasing existing information can be reliably performed in an information storage system such as optical disk system. In addition, whether the rewriting of recording has been properly done can be verified.

Abstract: In a rotary type storage apparatus and a control method thereof, a plurality of concentric or spiral information tracks are set and also each of the plural information tracks is subdivided into a plurality of sectors along a circumferential direction, which constitute a plurality of information recording planes. Also, in this apparatus and method, there are provided a plurality of read/write heads employed at each of the information recording planes and accessible to the information tracks, and also a head drive mechanism for positioning these plural read/write heads to the information tracks. At least one of the plural information recording planes corresponds to such a recording plane where a substitution information track has been set, on which a substitution sector corresponding to a failed sector present at another information recording plane is recorded.

Abstract: A magnetic field of a polarity corresponding to information to be recorded is applied while a recording spot having a high energy is irradiated to a magneto-optical recording medium to record domains representing the information along a track. The recorded domains are read out by a reproducing spot having a lower energy than the recording spot and a high resolution power along the track.

Abstract: Disclosed is an optical recording and reproducing apparaus comprising a light source directing a light spot toward a recording medium, a detection system detecting light reflected from the recording medium to derive an electrical signal from the reflected light, an information processing circuit modulating the intensity of the light spot according to writing pulses to record information on the recording medium and using the electrical signal to reproduce information from the recording medium, and a tracking servo circuit carrying out tracking servo operation on the basis of the electrical signal and including an extracting circuit connected to a source of extracting pulses having a pulse width at least equal to the writing pulse width so that writing pulse parts contained in the electrical signal are extracted during recording information, whereby a track offset occurring during information recording can be minimized, and the stability of the tracking servo system can be improved.

Abstract: A record carrier having a disc-shaped substrate and a recording layer for optically writing information therein is disclosed which includes a guide groove extended in the rotational direction of the record carrier so that a plurality of revolutions of the guide groove are spaced apart from each other in radial directions of the record carrier, and a pit pattern provided between adjacent guide grooves, at positions arranged at intervals in the above rotational direction, for detecting the deviation of a light spot from the center line between adjacent guide grooves. The recording/reproducing operation for this record carrier is performed in such a manner that the first tracking error signal is detected from diffracted light from the guide groove, the second tracking error signal is detected from the pit pattern, and information is recorded in and reproduced from a land formed between adjacent guide grooves in a state that a tracking operation is performed using the first and second tracking error signals.

Abstract: A record carrier having a disc-shaped substrate and a recording layer for optically writing information therein is disclosed which includes a guide groove extended in the rotational direction of the record carrier so that a plurality of revolutions of the guide groove are spaced apart from each other in radial directions of the record carrier, and a pit pattern provided between adjacent guide grooves, at positions arranged at intervals in the above rotational direction, for detecting the deviation of a light spot from the center line between adjacent guide grooves. The recording/reproducing operation for this record carrier is performed in such a manner that the first tracking error signal is detected from diffracted light from the guide groove, the second tracking error signal is detected from the pit pattern, and information is recorded in and reproduced from a land formed between adjacent guide grooves in a state that a tracking operation is performed using the first and second tracking error signals.

Abstract: A magneto-optic memory apparatus is disclosed in which a laser beam is focused on a recording medium having a perpendicularly-magnetized film, the intensity of said laser beam is caused to correspond to reproducing, recording and erasing operations, an external magnetic field is applied to the recording medium at least in recording and erasing periods so that the magnetic field in the recording period is opposite in direction to the magnetic field in the erasing period, a light quantity signal corresponding to the light quantity reflected from the recording medium and a magnetization signal corresponding to data recorded on the recording medium are produced by using the reflected light from the recording medium, at least one of the light quantity signal and the magnetization is amplified by a variable gain amplifier so that an amplified value in the erasing period is nearly equal to an amplified value in the reproducing period, a defect on the recording medium is detected from the output of the variable gain

Abstract: A tracking servo system includes in addition to a composite servo system composed of a push-pull track deviation detecting loop operative with pregrooves formed in an optical disc and a wobbling track deviation detecting loop operative with intermittently provided wobbled tracking marks, an offset correcting loop for detecting offset component possibly produced due to tilt, deformation and eccentricity of a recording medium or change in optical and mechanical parameters in the course of time lapse to drive forcibly a light spot by applying an electrical offset to cancel out the offset component. In the offset correcting loop, light reflected by wobbled tracking marks provided intermittently or mirror areas formed by interrupting intermittently the pregroove is utilized for detecting the offset component.

Abstract: An optical disk storage access method using a fine and coarse actuators for positioning a light spot to an intended track on the disk, wherein a pulse is generated each time the light spot has traversed a track, the pulses are counted to determine the distance from the current spot position to a target track, the fine actuator is activated depending on the measured distance, and the fine and coarse actuators are operated in unison so that the light spot is positioned to the target track.

Abstract: An optical disk having a disk-like substrate and a recording layer provided on the substrate. First and second regions are alternately arranged along a rotational direction of the optical disk. The first region includes a pre-formed optically detectable portion having an address area, and the second region has a guide groove serving as an optical guide for a light spot. A track offset detection area is provided for detecting track offset due to inclination of the optical disk and is disposed with respect to the first region and the second region so that the light spot is not affected by the first region and the second region. The track offset detection area is preferably a mirror portion disposed between the first region and the second region.