Patent ID: 7969839

Claim:
An apparatus for performing test recording on a storage medium, the storage medium including a first area provided for the test recording and a second area provided for recording user data, wherein the first area is separated into a first part and a second part, the first part being located before the second area and the second part being located after the second area, the apparatus comprising: a writer configured to selectively perform test recording to one of the first part or the second part; and a controller configured to determine an optimal writing power by the test recording, wherein the test recording is performed based on an indicative target writing power read from the storage medium, wherein the storage medium includes multiple recording regions which include the first and second areas, wherein the optimal writing power is determined using only said one of the first part or the second part that was selectively test recorded and does not use the first and second part in combination with each other to determine the optimal writing power, and wherein the test recording is performed at a random location in the first area.