Abstract: A laser beam for reproduction emitted from an LD (41) at the time of reproduction passes through an As correction board (42) and a grating (43) and becomes incident on a beam splitter (44). The beam splitter (44) transmits the laser beam and causes the laser beam to be incident on a liquid crystal unit (45). Then, at the time of reproduction, a light spot shaping device provides aberration to the laser beam transmitted through the liquid crystal unit (45) in accordance with the type of a magneto-optical disc and thus shapes a light spot on the magneto-optical disc. Therefore, optimum light spots for different media can be shaped.

Abstract: An equalizer used for an optical reproducing apparatus performs an optimal equalizing operation in accordance with the spatial frequency without needing an electrical equalizer. The optical reproducing apparatus reproduces the reproducing data in the following manner. A detector is provided for receiving reflected light from a disc. The detector is divided into a plurality of light receiving areas by a line perpendicular to the light receiving direction corresponding to the disc track direction. Then, calculations are made on the outputs from the respective light receiving areas to specifically correct the spatial frequency characteristics. The calculated signal is then decoded.