INFORMATION RECORDING AND REPRODUCING APPARATUS AND A METHOD OF CONTROLLING AN INFORMATION RECORDING AND REPRODUCING APPARATUS

摘要

An information recording and reproducing apparatus records data on and reproduces data from each of a plurality of recording layers of a recording medium. A controller (7) controls a formatting process to format the recording medium (1) by performing a first formatting process on the data area of a recording layer. The first formatting process comprises formatting the data area in a series of recording increments that progress from the inner side of the data area to the outer side of the data area. Within each recording increment the formatting is performed along a path extending from the outer side of the data area to the inner side of the data area. A second formatting process on the data area of another recording layer once the first formatting process has been completed, the second formatting process being performed along a path extending from the inner side of the data area of the other recording layer to the outer side of the data area of the other recording layer. Figure 13