An apparatus for reading out information from an information carrier includes a reading unit for reading out user information and access information from the information carrier. The user information are stored in a first region of the information carrier and the access information are stored in a second region of the information carrier. The apparatus further includes an access controller for providing access to the user information in dependence on the access information. The access information are stored in a first portion of the second region, and the dummy information are stored in a second portion of the second region according to a similar format as used for storing the access information.

A method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes the steps of: acquiring a play list including identification information indicating each of a plurality of elementary streams; selecting an elementary stream indicated by predetermined identification information from the acquired play list; acquiring a difference file including data that is not included in the selected elementary stream; and converting the selected elementary stream into an MP4 file format by combining data included in the difference file and data included in the selected elementary stream based on a manifest file corresponding to the selected elementary stream, the manifest file being necessary for the conversion of a file format based on a predetermined rule.

Performance evaluation of a storage device, for example a storage device connected to a Set Top Box, for evaluating its suitability for supporting DVR/PVR functions such as recording a broadcast audio/video stream or time shifting a broadcast audio/video stream.

A video recording apparatus includes a recording device having a location information area and a video data area. The location information area stores location information of video data stored in the video data area. The video data area stores the video data in units of blocks with a size of 1 MB or greater. The tail end of the block is used as a table of contents region for storing table of contents information of a plurality of the most-recent blocks. By providing the table of contents regions at a predetermined frequency, the tables of contents of all blocks being used in the video data area are retained in a distributed and redundant manner. Whenever the power supply is re-activated, the tables of contents regions are read, and pieces of the table of contents information are joined appropriately to construct a complete table of contents in memory.

A configuration capable of performing reliable source analysis of illegal copy content using content in which a reproduction path is settable is implemented. Content in which an individual segment region including a plurality of pieces of variation data which include different identification information embedded therein and are decryptable using different keys and a common segment region including single data are provided, and variation data is configured with an aligned unit is set. A content reproducing device calculates a reproduction path by applying a device key and selects and reproduces an aligned unit corresponding to the reproduction path on the basis of a variation data identifier recorded in an adaptation field in a plain text region at the head of a plurality of aligned units constituting the variation data.

System, methods, and apparatuses for storing data in a disk-based storage device incorporating multiple readers per recording surface to reduce recovery time from read errors using super-parity. An exemplary storage device comprises a read/write head and an associated recording surface. The read/write head has a plurality of readers configured to read a plurality of data tracks on the associated recording surface concurrently. The recording surface is segmented into a plurality of super blocks comprising a portion of each of a number of adjacent data tracks, the number of adjacent data tracks in each of the plurality of super blocks being equal to the number of the plurality of data tracks that can be read concurrently by the plurality of readers. Each super block further comprises parity information on one of the number of adjacent data tracks containing data recovery information for the super block.

A recording apparatus, including a recorder that records moving image data into a recording medium designated as a recording destination among a plurality of recording media; a reader that reads out, from the recording medium, temperature information on a current temperature of the recording medium; and a controller that controls the recorder based on a recording speed corresponding to a temperature indicated by the temperature information read out by the reader, wherein the controller controls, if a recording speed corresponding to a temperature indicated by first temperature information read out by the reader from a first recording medium designated as the recording destination during recording of the moving image data into the first recording medium is lower than a predetermined recording speed, the recorder to switch the recording destination from the first recording medium to another recording medium and continuously record the moving image data into the another recording medium.

An information recording method of recording information is provided in an information recording medium having a plurality of recording layers including a first recording layer and a second recording layer located to be closer to a surface than the first recording layer, each of the plurality of recording layers includes a user data area for recording user data, a spare area for alternatively recording data of failed recording into the user data area, and a management information area for recording management information. The first recording layer is used as a recording object layer at start of recording. When any one of the user data area, the spare area, and the management information area of the first recording layer runs short of a free space, then the recording object layer of the user data area, the spare area, and the management information area is switched over to the second recording layer.

In an optical disc apparatus that records and reproduces data onto and from an optical disc in units of predetermined block, an information divider divides the data so as to reduce an amount of the data included in each of blocks when a recording state of the optical disc does not satisfy a predetermined criterion, and reproduces recording data in units of the block by adding sub-information including a value indicating the amount of the data included in each of the blocks. An error-correction encoder circuit encodes the recording data in a first error-correction code format, and a recorder converts encoded recording data into a recording signal, and records the recording signal onto the optical disc. A quality evaluator circuit produces an evaluation value indicating a recording quality based on a result of reproducing the recording signal recorded on the optical disc.

According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk drive in the present embodiment includes a disk including tracks, each including servo sectors, a head, and a controller configured to acquire first correction data for repeatable runout occurring in a first direction, and second correction data different from the first correction data, to write the first correction data within a first permitted range in the first direction, to write the second correction data within a write permitted range including the first permitted range and a second permitted range in a second direction opposite to the first direction, to read at least one of the first correction data and the second correction data, and to correctly place the head.