A record playback apparatus of the present disclosure includes a plurality of optical pickups that records information on a recording medium or plays back information from the recording medium; a single transport mechanism that transports the plurality of optical pickups together; and a transport control circuit that drives the single transport mechanism so that, when the single transport mechanism is driven to transport the plurality of optical pickups to respective target positions on the recording medium, absolute value of a maximum value of transport errors of the plurality of optical pickups with respect to the respective target positions becomes substantially equal to absolute value of a minimum value of transport errors of the plurality of optical pickups with respect to the respective target positions.

A tape transport control system with enhanced regulation of tape tension and velocity over the entire length of the tape. For example, a closed-loop control system for controlling a tape transport includes circuitry adapted to output a signal representing a tape velocity at a tape head, circuitry adapted to output a signal representing a tape velocity at the first tape reel and a signal representing a tape velocity at the second tape reel, circuitry adapted to output a signal representing a tape tension, and circuitry adapted to, based on the received signals, generate control signals to control the tape velocity at least at one of the tape head, the first tape reel, the second tape reel, and the tension of the tape, using controller gains that depend on a longitudinal position of the tape, and to implement a system transfer function that is approximately independent of the longitudinal position.