Error rates in the interruption, black dot, and fingerprint regions can be used to confirm the stability of a test drive. Results from high quality test drives will slightly exceed calculated values because of practical servo and pickup limitations. Poor quality drives will generate much higher error rates. Philips 5B.2 and SBC 444A provide a proven and accepted basis for correlation. These discs should be available through your test equipment provider.
Linearity is an unsolved problem, just as for diskettes and other media.
Single point calibration only provides correlation for values near that point. Studies have shown poor correlation when parameters depart significantly from the 5B.2 values. Unfortunately, this lack of correlation can exist at specification limits. Measurements at one facility might pass the disc while tests at a different location could fail the same disc. Although an obvious solution is to make discs that are well within the specification limits, efforts have been made to generate linearity test discs that would support multiple-point correlation.