Recording and reproducing apparatus and method using a recording layer having a positioning region

A recording and reproducing method comprising:

• (1) detecting, by the use of a probe electrode, at least one region on a recording medium provided with a recording layer containing a repeating pattern of a plurality of first regions, each of said first regions containing a recording compound on which information can be recorded and from which recorded information can be reproduced, wherein said first regions are separated from each other by at least one second region containing a positioning compound, from which relative positioning information may be obtained and
• (2) either recording information or reproducing the recorded information at the position where said first region has been detected.

A recording and reproducing method comprising:

• (1) detecting, by the use of a probe electrode, at least one region on a recording medium provided with a recording layer containing a repeating pattern of a plurality of first regions, each of said first regions containing a recording compound on which information can be recorded and from which recorded information can be reproduced, wherein said first regions are separated from each other by at least one second region containing a positioning compound, from which relative positioning information may be obtained and
• (2) either recording information or reproducing the recorded information, under irradiation with light, at the position where said first region has been detected.