JPH1186453A - Disk-like recording medium, disk cartridge and recording and/or reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit and share the data between different work environments and to preserve the high density data by providing plural formatted areas with different recording capacity per unit area as information areas. SOLUTION: In a multi-format disk 1, an information recording area 10 is provided with a four times capacity recording area 11 and an eight times capacity recording area 12 in this multi-format information area, and the information such as the start/end address of the four times capacity recording area 11 and the start/end address of the eight times capacity recording area 12 or the like, are pre-pit recorded according to an eight times capacity format. The multi-format disk 1 is housed in a cartridge to be loaded on a recording and/or reproducing device as a disk cartridge. Since it is used commonly by plural recording and/or reproducing devices, the data are transmitted and shared between plural work environments.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk-shaped recording medium, a disk cartridge containing the disk-shaped recording medium in a cartridge, and a recording and / or reproducing apparatus for recording and / or reproducing data on and from the disk-shaped recording medium. Or a reproducing apparatus, specifically, a disc-shaped recording medium having an information recording area having a plurality of formatted areas having different recording capacities per unit area, a disc cartridge containing the disc-shaped recording medium in a cartridge, and a disc cartridge. Recording and / or recording on a disk-shaped recording medium
Also, the present invention relates to a recording and / or reproducing apparatus for performing reproduction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the multimedia age, discs such as optical discs and magneto-optical discs that are removable, that is, removable from a recording / reproducing apparatus, have excellent random access, and have a large recording capacity have recently been used as recording media. There is an increasing demand for state recording media.

[0003] With the increase in demand for such disk-shaped recording media such as optical disks and magneto-optical disks, new formats have been proposed one after another in order to increase the recording capacity. For example, ISO (Internationa
l Organization for Standardization) standard 5-inch magneto-optical disk (hereinafter referred to as MO) has been increased in recording capacity to 1 ×, 2 ×, 4 ×, and 8 ×. .

[0004] In the recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing on / from such a disk-shaped recording medium, recording / reproducing apparatuses corresponding to a new format are being provided one after another. These recording / reproducing apparatuses are generally made backward compatible in order to take advantage of removable media. That is, for example, a recording / reproducing apparatus corresponding to a disk-shaped recording medium having eight times the capacity has a capacity of one time, twice the capacity of a format lower than the disk-shaped recording medium having eight times the capacity,
For each disk-shaped recording medium of 4 times capacity,
Recording and reproduction can be performed.

[0005]

However, these recording / reproducing apparatuses cannot perform recording / reproducing on a disk-shaped recording medium having a format higher than that of a disk-shaped recording medium which can be supported, that is, compatible with the upper layer. When it is possible to perform recording and reproduction on a disk recording medium of a higher format, it is necessary to use a recording and reproducing apparatus corresponding to the disk recording medium of this format.

Therefore, in a plurality of work environments,
Data transmission using a disk-shaped recording medium,
When trying to share data with a single disc-shaped recording medium, if one recording / reproducing apparatus supports only a lower format than the other recording / reproducing apparatus, a disc-shaped recording medium of a lower format is used. It is necessary to transmit data by using the data or to store the data on a disk-shaped recording medium of a lower format.

[0007] Under such circumstances, even if a disk-shaped recording medium of a new format with an increased recording capacity is proposed, there is a problem that the disk-shaped recording medium of the new format is not sufficiently utilized. there were.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a disk-shaped recording medium capable of coping with different work environments and capable of transmitting and sharing data between a plurality of work environments while increasing the recording capacity. A disk cartridge in which the disk-shaped recording medium is housed in a cartridge, and recording and / or
Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording and / or reproducing apparatus for performing reproduction.

[0009]

A disk-shaped recording medium according to the present invention has an information recording area and a system information area in which information on the information recording area is recorded in advance. The disc-shaped recording medium is characterized in that the information recording area has a plurality of areas in different formats with different recording capacities per unit area.

In this disc-shaped recording medium, information conforming to a plurality of formats having different recording capacities per unit area is recorded in an information recording area.

A disk cartridge according to the present invention includes a disk-shaped recording medium and a cartridge in which the disk-shaped recording medium is stored. In this disc cartridge, the disc-shaped recording medium has an information recording area and a system information area in which information on the information recording area is recorded in advance, and the information recording area has a format having different recording capacities per unit area. Characterized by having a plurality of regions.

This disc cartridge preferably has a detecting means for detecting a format state of the disc-shaped recording medium in the cartridge.

[0013] A recording and / or reproducing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a recording / reproducing section for recording and / or reproducing data on / from a disk-shaped recording medium mounted thereon, and a recording operation and / or reproduction of the recording / reproducing section. A control unit for controlling the operation. Then, in the recording and / or reproducing apparatus, the control unit determines whether or not the mounted disk-shaped recording medium has areas set in a plurality of formats having different recording capacities per unit area. When it is determined that the shape recording medium has areas set in a plurality of formats having different recording capacities per unit area, the recording / reproducing unit is controlled to record information in each area corresponding to each format. Or, it is made to reproduce.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The disk-shaped recording medium according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as
It is called a multi-format disc 1. As shown in FIG. 1, an information recording area 10 for recording and / or reproducing an information signal and information related to the information recording area 10 are pre-pit-recorded on a main surface 1a serving as a signal recording surface. A system information area 20 is provided.

The information recording area 10 is provided, for example, on the outer peripheral side of the system information area 20 on the main surface 1a. The information recording area 10 is divided so as to have a plurality of areas in a format having different recording capacities per unit area.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the information recording area 10 includes an area (4-times capacity recording area 11) of a four-times capacity format of an ISO 5-inch MO and an ISO
And an area (8 times capacity recording area 12) which is 8 times capacity format of 5 inch MO. That is, in the multi-format disk 1, the inner circumference side of the information recording area 10 has a quadruple capacity format of a 5-inch MO of ISO, a track pitch of 1.15 μm and a quadruple capacity recording area 11 of land recording. And information recording area 1
The outer peripheral side of 0 is an 8 times capacity format of ISO 5-inch MO, and has a track pitch of 0.85 μm and an 8 times capacity recording area 12 for groove recording.

In the information recording area 10, a first transition area 13 is provided further inward than the quadruple capacity recording area 11, and the quadruple capacity recording area 11 and the eight times capacity recording area 1 are provided.
2, a second transition region 14 is provided.

The first and second transition regions 13 and 14
Is recorded on the multi-format disc 1 and / or
Alternatively, a recording and / or reproducing apparatus for performing reproduction is provided as an area for switching the disk rotation speed and the tracking polarity in accordance with the format of the multi-format disk 1, and includes, for example, a mirror section having a width of about 20 μm. Also, the first and second transition regions 13, 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a head unit of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus when the multi-format disc 1 is mounted on a recording and / or reproducing apparatus corresponding to a lower order (in this example, a quadruple capacity format) and recording or reproducing is performed. Is an upper format area (in this example, an 8 times capacity recording area 1
It also functions as a buffer for preventing interference between formats such as erroneous entry into 2).

The system information area 20 includes an information recording area 1
0 is a pre-pit recorded area,
The information recording area 10 is divided into a plurality of areas corresponding to the plurality of areas.

As shown in FIG. 2, the system information area 20 in the multi-format disc 1 of the present embodiment corresponds to the fact that the information recording area 10 has a four-fold capacity recording area 11 and an eight-fold capacity recording area 12. And a four-fold capacity system information area 21 and an eight-fold capacity system information area 22.

The quadruple capacity system information area 21 is provided in the system information area 20 so that the head of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus first reads this area when recording or reproducing on the multi-format disc 1. It is provided on the inner peripheral side. Then, this quadruple capacity system information area 21
The recording and / or reproducing apparatus has a quadruple capacity recording area 11.
The system information necessary for recording or reproducing the information signal, ie, the information on the physical format and the logical format of the quadruple capacity format and the start / end address indicating the position of the quadruple capacity recording area 11 are quadrupled. Pre-pit recording is performed according to the capacity format.

The eight times capacity system information area 22
It is provided on the outer peripheral side of the quadruple capacity system information area 21 via the first buffer area 23. In the eight-time capacity system information area 22, information on the physical format and the logical format of the eight-time capacity format and system information such as a start / end address indicating the position of the eight-time capacity recording area 12 are stored. Pre-pit recording is performed in accordance with

It should be noted that the eight times capacity system information area 22
May be pre-pit-recorded physically according to a 4-capacity format and logically according to an 8-fold capacity format. As described above, when the system information recorded in the eight-time capacity system information area 22 is prepit-recorded physically according to the four-capacity format and logically according to the eight-time capacity format, recording and / or reproduction is performed. After the apparatus reads the system information recorded in the quadruple capacity system information area 21,
When reading the system information recorded in the double-capacity system information area 22, operations such as switching the system clock can be omitted, and the format can be confirmed more easily.

Further, on the outer side of the system information area 22 which is eight times the capacity of the system information area 20, an information recording area in which the multi-format disc 1 is set to a plurality of different formats via a second buffer area 24. Is provided in a multi-format information area 25 in which information indicating that the information has a pre-pit is recorded. In the multi-format information area 25, for example, the information recording area 10
The type and number of formats, the start / end addresses of the respective formatted areas, etc. are pre-pit recorded in accordance with the upper format.

In the multi-format disc 1 of the present embodiment, the multi-format information area 25 is such that the information recording area 10 has the quadruple capacity recording area 11 and the 8 times capacity recording area 12, Start / end address of the capacity recording area 11 and start / end of the 8 times capacity recording area 12
Information such as an end address is pre-pit recorded according to an eight-fold capacity format. In the multi-format information area 25, similarly to the eight-fold capacity system information area 22, the information is pre-pit-recorded physically according to the four-fold capacity format and logically according to the eight-fold capacity format. You may.

The multi-format disk 1 constructed as described above is mounted on a recording and / or reproducing apparatus as a disk cartridge, for example, in a state housed in a cartridge. The multi-format disc 1 is housed in a cartridge and mounted on a recording and / or reproducing apparatus as a disc cartridge to protect the disc from scratches and dust. In this case, the cartridge in which the multi-format disc 1 is stored may be provided with detection means such as a detection hole for the recording and / or reproducing apparatus to detect the format state of the loaded disc. desirable. As described above, by providing the cartridge with the detection means such as the detection holes for detecting the format state of the disk, the recording and / or reproducing apparatus can easily detect the format state of the mounted disk.

Then, the multi-format disc 1 is recorded in a quadruple capacity recording area 11 by a recording and / or reproducing apparatus corresponding to the multi-format disc 1.
Is recorded and / or reproduced in accordance with the quadruple capacity format, and recording or reproduction is performed in the octuple capacity recording area 12 in accordance with the octuple capacity format. The multi-format disk 1 may be directly mounted on a recording and / or reproducing apparatus without being stored in a cartridge.

This multi-format disc 1 has 4
A recording and / or reproducing apparatus or a recording / playback apparatus that supports a double volume format
When the disc is mounted on a recording and / or reproducing apparatus compatible with the double-capacity format, the disc is recognized as a quadruple-capacity format disc, and recording or reproduction is performed only on the quadruple-capacity recording area according to the quadruple format.

As described above, since the multi-format disc 1 has an information recording area that can be commonly used by a plurality of recording and / or reproducing apparatuses, data transmission and data transmission between a plurality of different work environments are performed. Can be shared. Also, multi-format disc 1
Depending on the recording and / or reproducing apparatus corresponding to the multi-format disc 1, recording or reproduction is performed in each information recording area according to each format, so that the recording capacity can be increased. For example, in the above example, if a capacity of 128 MB is secured as the quadruple capacity recording area 11, the quadruple capacity recording area is only about 1/10 of the entire information recording area 10 and the remaining area is reduced. Can be allocated to the eight-fold capacity recording area 12, and the capacity of about 2.3 GB can be used in the eight-fold capacity recording area 12.

In the above description, the information recording area 10 is a quadruple capacity recording area 11 in which the capacity is four times the format of an ISO 5-inch MO, and the information recording area 10 is an eight times capacity recording in which the information is an eight times capacity format of the ISO 5 inch MO. Region 12 and first and second
Has been described, the multi-format disc according to the present invention is not limited to this example, and the information recording area 10 has a format different in recording capacity per unit area. It is only necessary to have a plurality of designated areas, and any combination of the formats may be used. For example, a multi-format disc has an information recording area 10
May have a CD-R formatted area and a DVD-R formatted area. In the case of reproduction only, the multi-format disc may have a CD-formatted area and a DVD-formatted area.

Further, in the multi-format disk according to the present invention, the information recording area 10 may have an area having a larger number of formats. For example, IS
Taking an example of a format of a 5 inch MO of O, the multi-format disc has an information recording area 10 in an area having a one-time capacity format, an area having a two-time capacity format, and an area having a four-time capacity format. , 8 × capacity format.

Although the multi-format disc 1 having the system information area 20 provided on the inner side of the information recording area 10 has been described above, the multi-format disc according to the present invention is not limited to this example. Alternatively, the system information area 20 may be provided on the outer peripheral side of the information recording area 10. In this case, the head of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus reads information recorded on the multi-format disc from the outer peripheral side of the multi-format disc.

In the above description, the system information area 20 provided on the inner peripheral side of the information recording area 10 is divided into a plurality of areas corresponding to the plurality of areas of the information recording area 10, and each area has an information recording area. An example in which information on a plurality of 10 areas is prepit-recorded has been described. However, the multi-format disc according to the present invention is not limited to this example. May be pre-pit recorded.

Next, a recording and / or reproducing apparatus corresponding to the multi-format disc 1 will be described. Here, a recording and / or reproducing apparatus that performs recording or reproduction with respect to an ISO 5-inch MO will be described as an example, but the recording and / or reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this example. Of course.

This recording and / or reproducing apparatus 30 is the same as that shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a spindle motor 31 for rotating and driving the multi-format disc 1 and a signal recorded in the information recording area 10 of the multi-format disc 1 and a system information signal recorded in the system information area 20 are read or read. A head section 32 for recording a signal in the recording area 10, a signal processing circuit 33 for generating a reproduction signal and a control signal based on the signal read by the head section 32, and a servo mechanism 34 for performing tracking control and the like
An access mechanism 35 for moving the head section 32 in the radial direction of the multi-format disc 1;
The system controller 36 controls the spindle motor 31, the servo mechanism 34 and the access mechanism 35 based on the system information signal and the control signal supplied from the controller 3.

The spindle motor 31 is driven and controlled by a system controller 36, and drives the multi-format disc 1 to rotate at a predetermined speed.

The head section 32 is, for example, a multi-format disk 1 on which a magnetic head and an optical head are mounted.
Are arranged opposite to each other. And this head part 3
2 is to apply a laser beam spot from the optical head to the recording layer made of, for example, a magnetic material to lower the coercive force, and apply an external magnetic field from the magnetic head to this portion to modulate the magnetic field. An information signal is recorded in the information recording area 10.

The head section 32 is provided in the information recording area 10.
Alternatively, a spot of the laser beam from the optical head is applied to the system information area 20 and the reflected light is detected, whereby a signal recorded in the information recording area 10 or a system information signal recorded in the system information area 20 is obtained. Read. Then, the head unit 32 supplies the detected signal to the signal processing circuit 33.

The signal processing circuit 33 reads a reproduction signal, a control signal for performing focus control and tracking control, and a system information signal from the signal detected by the head unit 32, and performs error correction and the like on these signals. Perform predetermined processing.

The reproduced signal processed by the signal processing circuit 33 is sent to an external device 40 such as an external computer via a predetermined interface.

The control signal and the system information signal processed by the signal processing circuit 33 are supplied to a system controller 36.

The system controller 36 controls the servo mechanism 3 based on the control signal supplied from the signal processing circuit 33.
4 to perform focus control and tracking control. Further, the system controller 36 recognizes the type and number of the format of the mounted multi-format disc 1 based on the system information signal supplied from the signal processing circuit 33, and according to the recognized format, the spindle motor 31 , The head unit 32 and the access mechanism 35.

The access mechanism 35 moves the head section 32 in the radial direction of the disk under the control of the system controller 36.

Here, the operation of the recording and / or reproducing apparatus 30 configured as described above for recording or reproducing on the multi-format disc 1 will be described. When the recording and / or reproducing apparatus 30 is turned on and the multi-format disc 1 is mounted, first, the system controller 36 sets the ISO 5 inch MO.
Spindle motor 31 according to the 4 times capacity format of
System settings such as setting of the rotation speed of the servo mechanism and the tracking polarity of the servo mechanism 34 are performed.

The recording and / or reproducing device 30
The system information area 20 is read from the inner peripheral side of the loaded multi-format disc 1. When the recording and / or reproducing apparatus 30 can read the system information recorded in the quadruple capacity format from the system information area 20, the mounted disc is a quadruple capacity format disk or a quadruple capacity format. It is determined that the disc is a multi-format disc 1 including the information recording area.

When the system information recorded in the four times capacity format is read from the system information area 20, the system controller 36 uses the first buffer area 23 in the system information area 20 to convert the system information into the eight times capacity format. Reconfigure the system according to the rules.

The recording and / or reproducing apparatus 30
When the system information recorded in the 8 times capacity format is read in the system information area 20 and the system information recorded in the 8 times capacity format can be read, the mounted disc is set to the 4 times capacity format. It is determined that the disc is a multi-format disc 1 having an information recording area and an information recording area in an eight-fold capacity format, and the system information recorded in the multi-format information area 25 is read.

When it is determined that the loaded disk is the multi-format disk 1, the system controller 36 sends the system information area 20 and the quadruple capacity recording area 1
1 using the first transition region 13 provided between
The system is reset according to the double capacity format, and the access mechanism 35 is driven based on the system information to move the head unit 32 to the quadruple capacity recording area 11.
The signal is recorded or reproduced in the quadruple capacity recording area 11 in the quadruple capacity format.

The recording and / or reproducing device 30 further comprises:
When recording or reproducing signals in the double-capacity format in the double-capacity recording area 12, the system controller 36
Using the second transition area 14 provided between the quadruple capacity recording area 11 and the 8x capacity recording area 12,
The system is reset according to the double capacity format, and the access mechanism 35 is driven based on the system information to move the head unit 32 to the eight-fold capacity recording area 12.
A signal is recorded or reproduced in the 8 times capacity recording area 12 in the 8 times capacity format.

The recording and / or reproducing apparatus 30 operates as described above, and in accordance with the quadruple capacity format for the quadruple capacity recording area of the multi-format disc 1,
Recording or reproduction of each signal is performed in the 8 times capacity recording area in accordance with the 8 times capacity format.

The recording and / or reproducing apparatus 30
When a quadruple capacity format disc is loaded, it recognizes that only quadruple capacity format system information is recorded in the system information area, and the loaded disc is a quadruple capacity format disc. It is determined that there is, and signal recording or reproduction is performed in accordance with the quadruple capacity format.

The recording and / or reproducing apparatus 30
Recognizes that when an 8x capacity format disc is loaded, only the 8x capacity format system information is recorded in the system information area, and the loaded disc is an 8x capacity format disc. It is determined that there is, and the recording or reproduction of the signal is performed in accordance with the 8-fold capacity format.

The recording and / or reproducing apparatus which determines the format of the loaded disc by checking whether the loaded disc has system information recorded in a plurality of different formats. 30 has been described, but the recording and / or reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, by reading optically or mechanically a detection hole provided in a cartridge containing a disc. Alternatively, the format of the loaded disk may be determined.

As described above, when the format of the loaded disc is determined from the detection hole of the cartridge, the recording and / or reproducing apparatus recognizes the format of the disc immediately after the disc is loaded. System setting can be performed efficiently.

Further, the recording and / or reproducing apparatus 30 corresponding to the multi-format disk 1 having the 4 × capacity format area and the 8 × capacity format area of the 5-inch MO of the ISO has been described above. The recording and / or reproducing apparatus is not limited to this example, and if the system controller sequentially sets the system from the lowest format to the highest format and reads the system information, any system can be used. It can support multi-format discs with a combination of formats.

In the above, the recording and / or reproducing apparatus 30 for recording or reproducing with respect to an ISO 5-inch MO has been described. However, the recording and / or reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this example. But not CDs or DVs
Recording or reproduction may be performed on a phase change optical disk such as D. In this case, the head section may be constituted by an optical head, and a signal may be detected from a difference in reflected light due to a phase change.

[0058]

The disc-shaped recording medium according to the present invention has a plurality of information recording areas set in formats having different recording capacities per unit area. The set area is used as an area for data transmission and data sharing between the recording and / or reproducing apparatus corresponding to only the lower format and the recording and / or reproducing apparatus corresponding to the upper format. By using the area set in the upper format as the area for data storage, it is possible to transmit and share data between different work environments, and to store data at high density. Become.

In the disk cartridge according to the present invention, since the disk-shaped recording medium accommodated in the cartridge has a plurality of information recording areas set in formats having different recording capacities per unit area, different working environments are provided. It is possible to transmit and share data between devices, and to store data at high density.

Further, the recording and / or reproducing apparatus according to the present invention determines whether or not the mounted disk-shaped recording medium has areas set in a plurality of formats having different recording capacities per unit area, When it is determined that the disc-shaped recording medium has regions set in a plurality of formats having different recording capacities per unit area, recording and / or reproduction of information corresponding to each format is performed for each region. Therefore, it is possible to record and / or reproduce information on the disk-shaped recording medium while taking advantage of the advantage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a multi-format disc according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an information recording area and a system information area of the multi-format disc.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording and / or reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Multi-format disc, 10 information recording areas, 11 4 times capacity recording areas, 12 8 times capacity recording areas, 20 system information areas, 21 4 times capacity system information areas, 228 times capacity system information areas, 25 multi format information areas , 30 recording and / or reproducing apparatus, 32 head section, 36 system controller

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information recording area, comprising: a system information area in which information relating to the information recording area is recorded in advance; the information recording area includes a plurality of areas having different recording capacities per unit area. A disk-shaped recording medium characterized by having: 2. The system information area is divided into a plurality of areas corresponding to a plurality of areas of the information recording area, and the plurality of divided areas include information on a plurality of areas of the information recording area. 2. The disk-shaped recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information is individually recorded. 3. The disk-shaped disk according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of divided areas of the system information area have the same logical format as the divided areas of the corresponding information recording area. recoding media. 4. The recording medium area is provided with an area where no information signal is recorded, which is located between the plurality of areas having different formats with different recording capacities per unit area. The disk-shaped recording medium according to claim 1, wherein 5. A disc-shaped recording medium, comprising: a cartridge in which the disc-shaped recording medium is stored; wherein the disc-shaped recording medium has an information recording area and a system information area in which information relating to the information recording area is recorded in advance. Wherein the information recording area has a plurality of areas formatted in different recording capacities per unit area. 6. A disk cartridge according to claim 5, wherein said cartridge is provided with a detecting means for detecting a format state of said disk-shaped recording medium. 7. A control device comprising: a recording / reproducing unit that records and / or reproduces data on / from a mounted disk-shaped recording medium; and a control unit that controls a recording operation and / or a reproducing operation of the recording / reproducing unit. The unit determines whether or not the disc-shaped recording medium has areas set in a plurality of formats having different recording capacities per unit area, and a plurality of disc-shaped recording media having different recording capacities per unit area. When it is determined that there is an area set in a format, the recording and / or reproducing unit is controlled to record or reproduce information in each area in accordance with each format. Or a playback device. 8. The control unit reads information on a format pre-recorded on the disc-shaped recording medium, so that the disc-shaped recording medium is set to a plurality of formats having different recording capacities per unit area. 8. The recording and / or reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein it is determined whether or not there is an area. 9. The disk-shaped recording medium is housed in a cartridge provided with a detection hole corresponding to the format of the disk-shaped recording medium, and the control unit controls the detection hole of the cartridge optically or mechanically. 8. A recording and / or reproducing method according to claim 7, wherein whether the disc-shaped recording medium has areas set in a plurality of formats having different storage capacities per unit area is determined by reading the data. apparatus.