DETECTION OF DATA DEGENERATION WITHIN OPTICAL DISCS

摘要

A system and method for detecting degeneration in an optical media by defining a set of error correction code (ECC) blocks (6) uniformly on an optical media (5) and reading each of the ECC blocks to determine a number of correctable errors (13) for each of the ECC blocks once the optical media is placed into use. The result of the reading of the ECC blocks is stored on the optical media. The reading of the ECC blocks can be statistically repetitive with the results for each of the ECC blocks averaged. By performing the reading of the ECC blocks over a long period of time, long term degradations of the disc can be determined and an indication made that data on the disc should be copied to another storage device. The ECC blocks are chosen uniformly over the disc surface, so that scratches, blacks spot can be eliminated.