Patent ID: 8102738

Claim:
An optical pickup comprising: a light emitting element for emitting a laser beam; an objective lens for collecting the laser beam on a recording surface of the optical disc; a photodetector for receiving a beam reflected by the recording surface of the optical disc and converting it to an electrical signal; and a microprocessor for performing tracking servo control of the optical pickup, wherein the photodetector has a first light receiving section and a second light receiving section which are formed by equally dividing the photodetector in a direction parallel to a track of the optical disc, and wherein before starting tracking servo control of the objective lens, the microprocessor performs preliminary tracking servo control of the objective lens by moving the objective lens in a radial direction of the optical disc so as to allow the laser beam reflected by the optical disc to be equally divided and received by the first light receiving section and the second light receiving section of the photodetector even when the optical disc has an offset center of gravity.