JPH11176026A - Optical information medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively utilize an area being other than the data recording area for recording data and readable by an optical pickup. SOLUTION: This optical information medium is capable of recording and/or reproducing optically readable information. In an area being other than the data recording area for recording the data of the optical information medium and readable by the optical pickup, a spare data recording area 16 is provided for recording and/or reproducing information read by the optical pickup. In such a spare data recording area 16, information regarding the manufacture of the optical information medium is recorded beforehand, and is read by the optical pickup. Also, the spare data recording area 16 has an address means, and this area is used for trial writing and reading for OPC(optical output adjustment) or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical information medium on which optically readable information can be reproduced and / or recorded, other than a data recording area for recording data.
The present invention relates to an optical information medium in which optically readable data relating to the manufacture of the optical information medium is recorded in a region readable by an optical pickup.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent development and commercialization of short-wavelength lasers, digital video discs (DVDs) capable of higher-density recording and reproduction have been put to practical use. In this type of optical information medium, a data recording area is set on at least one main surface, pits serving as information recording means are formed in this data recording area, and a reflective layer made of a metal film is formed thereon. I have. In addition, as a recordable optical information medium, a tracking guide is formed in a data recording area of at least one disk, and an organic dye or the like is applied thereon by a method such as a spin coating method to form a light interference layer, A reflective layer made of a metal film is formed thereon. For example, in the DVD type optical information medium, two disks are bonded to each other. On the other hand, DVD-RAM
Development using a so-called disk phase change recording technique capable of random writing and erasing as described above is also being studied. This is an overwrite type in which a signal can be written to and erased from the information recording layer several times.

[0003] The most common data recording means in such an optical information medium capable of optically reproducing data is a pit formed in advance on a light-transmitting substrate formed by means such as injection molding. Is formed, and a reflective layer made of a metal film is provided thereon, thereby enabling optical data reproduction. In such an optical information medium, as information for managing the manufacture, a mark such as a mold and a lot is formed by a combination of characters and symbols whose display can be visually recognized. Such a mark is provided on a portion other than the data recording area of the optical information medium, for example, on the inner or outer peripheral side of the data recording area.

[0004] Of the above-mentioned optical information media, so-called DVD-ROMs on which data can be optically recorded and reproduced are provided.
In an optical information medium called R, a power calibration area (Power
An area including an area such as a calibration area (PCA), a test area, a count area, and a recording management area (RMA) is formed. In this area, the power of recording laser light is adjusted (Power Calibration), and address information necessary for additional recording is temporarily stored (Program).
m Memory).

[0005]

The mark which can be visually recognized as described above indicates information relating to the manufacture of the optical information medium, for example, a mold number. Such information is often used to manage intellectual property, especially copyright based copyrights. However, the information displayed by the mark-shaped identification means thus formed is
Although the information can be read visually, the information cannot be optically read by a reproducing apparatus such as a player or a media drive.

[0006] Today, optical information media are widely used not only in art departments such as music and videos, but also in media for information processing by computers. Further, in addition to optical information media such as so-called compact discs (CDs) and DVDs, on which data has already been recorded at the time of manufacture of the optical information medium and subsequent recording cannot be performed, and after the optical information medium has been manufactured, the optical information medium is provided by the user. So-called CD- that can be recorded on information media
R and DVD-R are also being developed. For this reason, some voices are concerned that the copyright system will be lost due to illegal copying.

Also, as described above, the RMA area and PC
In the optical information medium in which the area including the area A is formed on the inner peripheral side of the lead-in, a part of the optical information medium which reaches the inner peripheral clamping area can be written and read by the optical pickup. In spite of the,
It was not used at all. In a recordable optical information medium such as a DVD-R or the like, an optimum output adjustment (Optimum Power C) for adjusting a write output of a laser beam during recording.
control (OPC) was performed in the RMA and PCA areas described above. However, in an optical information medium such as a DVD-R having a high recording density and a large storage capacity on one side, in the RMA area and the PCA area, the writing area is insufficient for performing the OPC. was there.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional optical information medium, the present invention provides an area other than a data recording area r for recording data and which can be read by an optical pickup. The purpose is to make effective use of. Data related to intellectual property rights such as copyright,
The optical information medium can be read from an area other than the data recording area r by an optical pickup on the side of the apparatus that reproduces the optical information medium, so that illegal copying can be dealt with. In addition, the area in which writing and reading can be performed by the optical pickup of the optical information medium is effectively utilized,
The purpose is to secure a wide area for performing such operations. As a result, the OPC is performed with a margin, and the setting of the optimum recording light amount can be reliably performed with a margin.

In order to achieve such an object, according to the present invention, except for a data recording area r for recording data,
An area readable by an optical pickup is used as a spare data recording area 16. From such a spare data recording area 16, information related to the manufacture of an optical information medium can be read by an optical pickup. Also,
This spare data recording area 16 can be used for OPC or the like.

That is, an optical information medium according to the present invention is an optical information medium in which optically readable information can be reproduced and / or recorded. A spare data recording area 16 in which information readable by an optical pickup can be reproduced and / or recorded is provided in a possible area. Information related to the manufacture of the optical information medium is recorded in advance in such a spare data recording area 16 and can be read by an optical pickup. The readable information on the manufacture of the optical information medium is, for example, information on the intellectual property of the optical information medium.

[0011] In such an optical information medium, information relating to the manufacture of the optical information medium can be read, not visually, by an optical pickup of a reproducing apparatus, and processed as electric signal data. By this, for example, if the information on the production read by the optical pickup of the playback device does not indicate that it has the recorded content based on, for example, a valid copyright, in other words,
If it is not proved that the medium is a medium recorded based on a valid copyright, the reproduction can be rejected by hardware or software settings of the reproducing apparatus. As a result, it is possible to prevent the reproducing device from acting in a manner that would cause a conflict with the copyright. Similarly, by inserting information at the time of manufacturing a disc, it is possible to write only on a specific medium.

The spare data recording area 16 outside the data recording area r has address means. Examples of the addressing means for the pre-address area 16 include a pre-pit and a wobbled pre-groove.
Spare data recording area 1 having such address means
In an optical information medium having an optical information medium 6, a pre-address area 16, which can be written and read by an optical pickup, other than the RMA area and the PCA area provided in the data recording area r.
Is provided, it is possible to secure a sufficient area for performing trial writing for OPC (optimum output adjustment) and reading the same. Therefore, even for an optical information medium having a large storage capacity such as a DVD-R, preliminary writing and reading for recording such as OPC can be performed with a margin.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described specifically and in detail with reference to the drawings. As an example of an optical information medium according to the present invention, an example of a write-once optical information medium having a single-sided recording / reproducing structure by bonding both sides is shown in FIGS. The disk 1 is a transparent disk-shaped substrate having a center hole 4 at the center. This disc 1 is best made of a transparent resin such as polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), but may be a glass substrate.

A clamping area, which will be described later, is set outside the center hole 4 on one side of the light-transmitting disc 1, and a data recording area r is set on the outer periphery thereof. A tracking guide 3 composed of a spiral groove is formed in the data recording area r of the disk 1. The standard pitch of the tracking guide 3 is 0.74 to 0.8 μm.

Further, an information recording layer 2 is formed on the main surface of the data recording area r of the disk 1. For example,
First, an organic dye or the like is applied by a method such as spin coating,
An optical interference layer 12 is formed, and a reflective layer 13 made of a metal film of gold, aluminum, silver, copper, or the like or an alloy film thereof is formed on the optical interference layer 12. The light interference layer 12 and the reflection layer 13 constitute the information recording layer 2, and the portion where the information recording layer 2 is formed is the data recording area r. In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a protective film such as a resin is formed on the light reflection layer 13, but such a protective film may not be provided. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 9 denotes a ring-shaped ridge 9 on the recording surface side, which is the main surface on the front side of the disk 1, and formed outside the data recording area r. This prevents the recording surface from touching the surface of another optical information medium when the optical information medium is superimposed.

Further, another disk 5 is prepared in addition to the disk 1. The disk 5 is of the same size and made of the same material as the disk 1, but does not have the tracking guide 3 and the information recording layer 2 provided on the main surface as in the disk 1. Of course, the other disk 5 also has a data recording area r having the same tracking guide 3 and information recording layer 2 as the disk 1.
Can also be provided.

Next, these two disks 1 and 5 are bonded together. For example, a reactive curing resin is applied as an adhesive 11 to at least one main surface of the two disks 1 and 5 by means of a spin coating method, a screen printing method, or the like, and these surfaces are overlapped with each other. And the reactive hardening resin is hardened. Thereby, the principal surfaces of the two disks 1 and 5 are bonded to each other by the adhesive 11 formed by curing the reactive cured resin. In this case, the surface of the disk 1 on which the information recording layer 2 is formed is bonded.

For example, an ultraviolet curable resin which is not cured on the same surface is dropped as an adhesive 11 with at least one of the surfaces of the disks 1 and 5 to be bonded facing upward. 5, the predetermined surfaces to be bonded are overlapped. Thereby, the adhesive is applied to the disc 1,
5 spreads between the disks 1 and 5 due to the pressure applied from the disk 5 and the capillary phenomenon. When the adhesive spreads on the entire inner peripheral side between the disks 1 and 5, the disks 1 and 5 are rotated at a high speed to shake off excess ultraviolet curable resin. Next, the ultraviolet curable resin is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from one side of the transparent disks 1 and 5 and cured to form a layer of an adhesive 11, and the disks 1 and 5 are tightly fixed by the adhesive 11. .

As another example, a cationic UV curable resin is applied over the entire surface of at least one of the disks 1 and 5 to be adhered, and the UV curable resin is irradiated therewith to start delayed curing. After that, two discs 1,
The predetermined surfaces 5 to be bonded are overlapped with each other. Next, the resin is cured while pressing both disks 1 and 5 in the thickness direction to form an adhesive 11, and the disks 1 and 5 are tightly fixed by the adhesive 11. In addition to this,
A thermoplastic resin-based adhesive can also be used as the adhesive. In consideration of the impact resistance of the optical information medium, the hardness of the adhesive layer after curing is preferably higher than the hardness of the substrate.

In the above example, a disc 1 having a tracking guide 3 and an information recording layer 2 formed in a data recording area r of a light-transmitting substrate was bonded to another disc 5 having no information recording layer. It is an example. In these cases, recording / reproduction is possible on only one side. The other disk 5 may have no translucency, may be colored for maintaining light resistance, or may have a surface provided with a character, pattern, or writable area.

On the other hand, two discs 1 provided with a tracking guide 3 and an information recording layer 2 in a data recording area r of a light-transmitting substrate are prepared, and these two information recording layer 2 sides are adhered to each other. A combined optical information medium having a so-called double-sided recording / reproducing structure can also be used. Other disks 5 used in this case include disks 1 and 5 shown in FIG.
Among them, a disk 1 in which a tracking guide 3 and an information recording layer 2 are formed in a data recording area r is used.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a general area of the optical information medium. At the center of the optical information medium is a center hole 4 into which a clamper connected to a spindle motor is inserted. A certain portion around the center hole 4 is a clamping area 15, and the clamper holds the clamping area 15 and rotates the optical information medium.

Outside the clamping area 15 is the data recording area r described above. In the data recording area r, there is a recording control area 17 from the inner side of the optical information medium, a lead-in 21 on the outer side, a data area 18 on the outer side, and a read-out area on the outer side. There is an out 11. The outside is a blank area 20. The recording control area 17 includes a power calibration area (Power Calibration Area).
a: PCA), a test area, a count area, a recording management area (RMA), and the like. These areas adjust the power of the recording laser beam (Power Calibration), and have addresses necessary for additional recording. Temporarily store information (Program
m Memory). This area is mainly used for recording. Therefore, as in the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this is a necessary area for a write-once optical information medium, and is not necessary for an optical information medium that is not recorded after manufacturing. In addition, in the optical information medium for recording, it is not used at the time of reproduction in principle.

According to the present invention, in such an optical information medium, an optical pickup is provided in an area other than the data recording area r of the optical information medium having the above-mentioned area and which can be read by the optical pickup of the reproducing apparatus. A preliminary data recording area 16 is provided in which information that can be read is recorded or recorded. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 16 denotes this spare data recording area 16.

In the spare data recording area 16, information relating to the manufacture of the optical information medium is recorded. This information
It is recorded as data that can be read by the optical pickup of the playback device. In the example of FIG. 2, the spare data recording area 16 is provided on the inner peripheral side of the data recording area r, but may be provided on the outer peripheral side of the data recording area r if space permits.

The data indicating the information relating to the manufacture of such an optical information medium is, for example, an optical information medium in which the optical information medium records data by pre-pits formed in advance on a translucent substrate, or a recordable optical information medium. Regardless of whether the medium is an information medium, recording can be performed using pre-pits formed in advance on a light-transmitting substrate. In the case of a recordable optical information medium, the data may be data recorded by optical means after the production of the optical information medium.

Information related to the manufacture of an optical information medium is often used as information relating to copyright. By reading the information, the data recorded on the optical information medium can be used under a valid copyright. It can be checked whether or not it is recorded. By reading such manufacturing-related information with the optical pickup of the reproducing apparatus, for example, if the information does not indicate that the information is an optical information medium having data recorded by a valid copyright, the reproduction apparatus hardware Playback can be disabled by software or software settings. As a result, it is possible to prevent the reproducing device from acting in a manner that would cause a conflict with the copyright.

Further, such a spare data recording area 1
6 can be used as a pre-address area which can be written and read by an optical pickup when it is provided on the inner peripheral side of the optical information medium. For this purpose, the spare data recording area 16 has a pre-address indicating the position of the optical pickup at the time of recording or reproduction, and a general means thereof is a pre-pit or a pre-groove wobbled by FM modulation. It is. That is, in order to obtain position information, prepits are arranged or pregrooves are FM-modulated and formed slightly meandering, and the optical pickup is addressed. Also,
When a pre-pit is formed in this portion, addressing by the pre-pit is enabled.

The spare data recording area 16 which can be used as such a pre-address area has an OPC (Optimum Power) for recording data on an optical information medium.
Control) can be used for trial writing and reading. For example, DVD-R is C
Since the storage capacity is several times as large as that of the preceding optical information medium such as DR, an area for adjusting the optimum output is inevitably required when recording is performed in the data recording area r as needed. Need more. As described above, by providing the spare data recording area 16 that can be used as a pre-address area readable by the optical pickup of the reproducing apparatus in an area other than the data recording area r, the PCA area and the RM
In addition to the A area, more areas can be used for trial writing for OPC and the like.

Since the spare data recording area 16 which can be used as the pre-address area is outside the regular data area 18, it is restricted by a system standard such as a book format defined for DVD-R or the like. And can be used for any purpose. That is, it is not limited to the OPC as described above, and can be used freely.
It is possible to cope with versatility of optical information media.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, information relating to the production of an optical information medium used for information relating to intellectual property rights such as copyrights is optically reproduced by an apparatus for reproducing the optical information medium. Since the data can be read by the pickup, the reproducing apparatus can deal with illegal copying or the like. Therefore, it is possible to prevent easy illegal copying and contribute to proper use of intellectual property rights. Further, by effectively using a portion other than the data recording area r and using the spare data recording area 16 for trial writing for OPC or the like and reading the same, a large storage capacity such as a DVD-R can be obtained. Even if the optical information medium has
Test writing for a PC and the like and reading thereof can be performed with a margin.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded half cross-sectional perspective view showing an example of an optical information medium according to the present invention in a state before two disks are bonded together.

FIG. 2 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing the optical information medium.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an optical information medium showing an example of area allocation of the optical information medium according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Center hole 15 Clamp area 16 Preliminary data recording area 18 Data area 19 Lead-out 21 Lead-in 19 Lead-out r Data recording area

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yuju Tomizawa 6-16-20 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo Inside Taiyo Denki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shoji Sato 6-16-20 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo Taiyo Denki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Emiko Hamada 6-16-20 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo Taiyo Denki Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An optical information medium capable of reproducing and / or recording optically readable information, wherein an optical pickup is provided in an area other than a data recording area (r) for recording data and readable by an optical pickup. An optical information medium comprising a spare data recording area (16) in which information readable by a pickup can be reproduced and / or recorded. 2. The data according to claim 1, wherein the data which can be optically reproduced from the spare data recording area outside the data recording area is information relating to the manufacture of the optical information medium. Optical information medium. 3. The optical information medium according to claim 2, wherein the information on the manufacture of the optical information medium is information on the intellectual property of the optical information medium. 4. The optical information medium according to claim 1, wherein the spare data recording area outside the data recording area has address means. 5. The optical information medium according to claim 4, wherein the address means of the spare data recording area outside the data recording area is a pre-pit or wobbled pre-groove.