Patent ID: 6653612
Filing Date: 2003-11-25
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
An optical pickup adapted to detect a return light from an optical disc and provide as output a result of the light detection, the optical pickup comprising;optical means having a first light source and a second light source for emitting and converging a light onto an optical disc; light detecting means having at least a first portion and a second portion each having a plurality of light incident surfaces for detecting light, in which the first and second portions are provided on a semiconductor substrate and in which each light incident surface of said first portion is separate from each other and each light incident surface of said second portion is separate from each other; and an optical integrated device housing the light detecting means, said optical integrated device having a number of switching circuits coupled to the light detecting means and a number of common terminals coupled to the number of switching circuits for providing output data, in which the number of switching circuits are arranged such that the number of common terminals is the same regardless of the number of light incident surfaces in the light detecting means.