Optical disk capable of disabling incompatible recorder

摘要

An optical disk has a circular shape formed with a pregroove along a circumferential direction of the circular shape. The optical disk is compatible with one type of a recording apparatus which is designed to irradiate an optical beam onto the optical disk to form pits along the pregroove for actual recording of information. The optical disk is incompatible with another type of a recording apparatus which is designed to conduct test recording before actual recording on a test area of a conventional optical disk repeatedly up to a predetermined number of times and which is designed to successively record the times of the test recording into a count area of the conventional optical disk such that the final time may be recorded in a predetermined section of the count area. The optical disk has a test area corresponding to the test area of the conventional optical disk and a prepit area corresponding to the count area of the conventional optical disk, the prepit area being provisionally formed with prepits at least in a section corresponding to the predetermined section of the count area of the conventional optical disk so as to inhibit said another type of the recording apparatus from conducting the test recording.