Patent ID: 7099249

Claim:
A method for selecting a target power for writing to an optical disk with an optical disk drive, the method comprising: reading a target gamma value from the optical disk using the optical disk drive, wherein a gamma value is a ratio of a change in modulation signal to change in power normalized by a ratio of modulation signal strength to power, and the target gamma value identifies the target power of the optical disk; performing a plurality of write tests to the optical disk at a plurality of test powers using the optical disk drive; measuring a corresponding plurality of modulation signal strength values of the optical disk for the plurality of write tests using the optical disk drive, and generating a modulation signal strength versus power curve; determining a possible gamma line for a considered power within the domain of the plurality of test powers, wherein the possible gamma line has a slope equal to the target gamma multiplied by a ratio of the considered modulation signal strength to the considered power; and selecting the considered power as the target power of the optical disk drive when the possible gamma line is substantially tangential to the modulation signal strength versus power curve at the considered power; wherein powers within the domain of the plurality of test powers are considered until a considered power is selected as the target power for the optical disk.