Information recording medium method and apparatus for recording and reproducing information

A method of reproducing contents information from an information recording medium, the information recording medium comprising a lead-in area and a data area for storing contents information, the lead-in area including a first lead-in information area and a second lead-in information area, the first lead-in information area having a first depth and being for storing first lead-in information related to the contents information stored in the data area, the first lead-in information including information of a contents-information start position, the second lead-in information area including pre-pits having a second depth greater than the first depth, the pre-pits representing predetermined information related to the contents information stored in the data area, the second lead-in information area including an area for storing second lead-in information including the information of the contents-information start position, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) reproducing one of (1) the first lead-in information and (2) the second lead-in information from corresponding one of (1) the first lead-in information area and (2) the second lead-in information area;
• and
• b) reproducing the contents information from the data area in response to the information reproduced by the step a).

A method of recording and reproducing contents information on and from an information recording medium, the information recording medium comprising a lead-in area and a data area for storing contents information, the lead-in area including a first lead-in information area and a second lead-in information area, the first lead-in information area having a first depth and being for storing first lead-in information related to the contents information stored in the data area, the first lead-in information including information of a contents-information start position, the second lead-in information area including pre-pits having a second depth greater than the first depth, the pre-pits representing predetermined information related to the contents information stored in the data area, the second lead-in information area including an area for storing second lead-in information including the information of the contents-information start position, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) reproducing one of (1) the first lead-in information and (2) the second lead-in information from corresponding one of (1) the first lead-in information area and (2) the second lead-in information area;
• and
• b) recording contents information on the data area in response to the information reproduced by the step a).