Information recording medium which records information that pertains to integrity

An information recording apparatus for recording information on an information recording medium which has a plurality of sector fields that record data and respectively have identification information areas, and in which a block is defined by a set of a predetermined number of sector fields, comprising

• recording means of recording, in the identification information area of a given sector field, first identification information indicating that data is recorded with a first integrity level when first data to which a linear replacement algorithm is applied is recorded in the given sector field on said information recording medium, and recording, in the identification information area of the given sector field, second identification information indicating that data is recorded with a second integrity level when second data to which the linear replacement algorithm is inapplicable is recorded in the given sector field on said information recording medium.

An information recording method comprising:

• the step of, when first data to which a linear replacement algorithm is applicable is recorded in a predetermined sector field of an information recording medium which has a plurality of sector fields that record data and respectively have identification information areas, and in which a block is defined by a set of a predetermined number of sector fields, recording first identification information indicating that data is recorded in the identification information area of the predetermined sector field with a first integrity level;
• and
• the step of, when second data to which the linear replacement algorithm is inapplicable is recorded in the predetermined sector field of the information recording medium, recording second identification information indicating that data is recorded in the identification information area of the predetermined sector field with a second integrity level.

An information reproduction apparatus for reproducing information from an information recording medium which has a plurality of sector fields that record data, and in which each sector field has an identification information area that records one of first identification information indicating that data is recorded with a first integrity level, and second identification information indicating that data is recorded with a second integrity level lower than the first integrity level, and a block is defined by a set of a predetermined number of sector fields, comprising

• reproduction means for reproducing information from the information recording medium;
• and
• determination means, operating when the first identification information and the second identification information are reproduced from the identification information areas of the sector fields included in one block, for determining which one of the first and second identification information is output in a larger amount and dealing with the determined identification information as correct identification information.

An information reproduction method for reproducing information from an information recording medium which has a plurality of sector fields that record data, and in which each sector field has an identification information area that records one of first identification information indicating that data is recorded with a first integrity level, and second identification information indicating that data is recorded with a second integrity level lower than the first integrity level, and a block is defined by a set of a predetermined number of sector fields, comprising:

• the step of reproducing information from the information recording medium;
• and
• determining which one of the first and second identification information is output in a larger amount when the first identification information and the second identification information are reproduced from the identification information areas of the sector fields included in one block, and dealing with the determined identification information as correct identification information.