Optical and visual information recording medium, optical and visual information recording apparatus and method

An optical information recording apparatus which records a data overlapping a visible second information on a first information in an optical information recording medium by intermittently irradiating a laser beam so that a pit line is successively formed, comprising:

• positional information generating means for generating a positional information so that the second information is recorded in a predetermined area in a radial direction and an angular direction on the optical information recording medium;
• and
• optical modulating means for varying (modulating) a laser beam power so that the second information is recorded according to a change of a pit width based on a change of power of the laser beam and a change of a pit length based on an on/off control of the laser beam, or
• a change of width within only a portion of the length of the pit based on a change in the vicinity of the on/off control of the laser beam.

An optical information recording apparatus which records a data overlapping a visible second information on a first information in an optical information recording medium by intermittently irradiating a laser beam so that a pit line is successively formed, comprising:

• positional information generating means for generating a positional information so that the second information is recorded in a predetermined area in a radial direction and an angular direction on the optical information recording medium;
• and
• optical modulating means for varying (modulating) a laser beam power so that the second information is recorded according to a change of a pit width based on a change of power of the laser beam, a change of a pit length based on an on/off control of the laser beam, or a change of depression or bulge of the pit based on a change in the vicinity of the on/off control of the laser beam, wherein
• in the case where a regenerative signal obtained from the optical information recording medium is binary-coded at a predetermined slice level so as to generate a binary-coded signal, an irradiation timing of the laser beam is corrected so that the binary-coded signal is variable on the basis of a predetermined basic period, and a pit length is varied in accordance with the second information on the basis of the first information.

An optical information recording apparatus which records a data overlapping a visible second information on a first information in an optical information recording medium by intermittently irradiating a laser beam so that a pit line is successively formed, comprising:

• positional information generating means for generating a positional information so that the second information is recorded in a predetermined area in a radial direction and an angular direction on the optical information recording medium;
• and
• optical modulating means for varying (modulating) a laser beam power so that the second information is recorded according to a change of a pit width based on a change of power of the laser beam, a change of a pit length based on an on/off control of the laser beam, or a change of depression or bulge of the pit based on a change in the vicinity of the on/off control of the laser beam, wherein
• the second information is expressed by a positional information by a polar coordinate on the optical information recording medium, and a power of the laser beam is modulated so as to be variable in accordance with the second information according to a time axis.

An optical information recording apparatus which records a first information signal on an optical information recording medium by carrying out an on/off modulation of a laser beam source at a period of integer multiples of a predetermined basic period in accordance with a data to be recorded, and which records a change from a predetermined light intensity level to other light intensity level, which is obtained from a micro equal interval step such that an inclination of the light intensity becomes substantially linear with respect to a second information signal and time by changing a light intensity of the laser beam source, on the optical information recording medium, comprising:

• measuring means for measuring a laser intensity of the modulated laser beam;
• control means for controlling a driving signal of the modulated laser beam;
• characteristic measuring means for measuring a characteristic of laser beam intensity with respect to a predetermined pair of amplitudes of the driving signal obtained by the measuring means and the control means;
• characteristic inverting means for carrying out an invert operation of the characteristic so as to determine a driving amplitude corresponding to a certain light intensity, and storing the result;
• and
• timing correcting means for correcting a timing of the modulated signal in accordance with a light intensity level of the laser beam, in the characteristic inverting means storing a driving amplitude for making a desired light intensity output, the light intensity of the laser beam being directly controlled during a change by investigating a necessary driving amplitude, and further, the resultant regenerative signal of the optical information recording medium being smoothly variable in a recording range where a recording light intensity changes so that the optical information recording medium can be safely reproduced.

The optical information recording method which records a first information signal on an optical information recording medium, and which records a change from a predetermined light intensity level to other light intensity level, which is obtained from a micro equal interval step such that an inclination of the light intensity becomes substantially linear with respect to a second information signal and time by changing a light intensity of the laser beam source, on the optical information recording medium, and further includes a timing correcting step applied to the first information signal in accordance with a light intensity level, comprising the following steps of:

• a measuring step of measuring a laser intensity of the modulated laser beam;
• a control step of controlling a driving signal of the modulated laser beam;
• an invert operation step of measuring a characteristic of laser beam intensity with respect to a predetermined pair of amplitudes of the driving signal obtained by the measuring means and the control means, and carrying out an invert operation of the characteristic, and further, storing the invert operation value which is a driving signal corresponding to a certain light intensity;
• and
• a timing correction value determining step of determining a timing correction value relative to an intermediate light intensity level in a displacement period of linearly interpolating a timing value at a predetermined light intensity level,
• in the invert operation step of storing an invert operation characteristic for making a desired light intensity output, the light intensity of the laser beam being directly controlled during a change by investigating a necessary driving amplitude, and further, the resultant regenerative signal of the optical information recording medium being smoothly variable in a recording range where a recording light intensity changes so that the optical information recording medium can be safely reproduced.

An optical information recording method comprising steps of:

• recording data overlapping a visible second information on a first information in an optical information recording medium by intermittently irradiating a laser beam so that a sequence of pits is formed;
• recording the second information in a predetermined area in a radial direction and an angular direction on the optical information recording medium, including changing a pit width based on a change of power of the laser beam, a change of a pit length based on an on/off control of the laser beam, or a change of depression or bulge of the pit based on a change in the vicinity of the on/off control of the laser beam;
• and
• controlling a power of the laser beam so that a pit change based on the second information is gradually carried out according to a time axis.

An optical information recording apparatus which records data overlapping a visible second information on a first information in an optical information recording medium by intermittently irradiating a laser beam so that a sequence of pits is formed, comprising:

• positional information generating means for generating positional information so that the second information is recorded in a predetermined area in a radial direction and an angular direction on the optical information recording medium;
• and
• optical modulating means for modulating a laser beam power so that the second information is recorded according to a change of a pit width based on at least one of a change of a power of the laser beam, a change of a pit length based on an on/off control of the laser beam, and a change of depression or bulge of the pit based on a change in the vicinity of the on/off control of the laser beam, wherein
• a power of the laser beam is controlled so that a pit change based on the second information is gradually carried out according to a time axis.

An optical information recording medium configured to have data recorded thereon and reproduced there from comprising:

• intermittent pits formed on the medium in a pit sequence, each pit of said intermittent pits including a first information and a second information, wherein
• the second information is expressed by a radial and angular parameter of the first information on the optical information recording medium,
• the second information radial and angular parameter is at least one of a change of a pit width based on a change of power of the laser beam, a change of a pit length based on an on/off control of the laser beam, and a change of depression or bulge of the pit based on a change in the vicinity of the on/off control of the laser beam, and
• a power of the laser beam is controlled so that a pit change based on the second information is gradually carried out according to a time axis.