Patent ID: 8503280

Claim:
An information recording medium having a plurality of information tracks spirally, the medium comprising: a first read only area in which information is formed in a track as a first embossed area having a first physical characteristic in a first unit of correction block; a second read only area in which information is formed in a track as a second embossed area having a second physical characteristic in a second unit of correction block; an information track area in which information is recorded in a third unit of correction block; and a read-only intermediate area in which information is formed in a track as a third embossed area having a third physical characteristic in a fourth unit of correction block, allocated between the first read only area and the second read only area, wherein a configuration of the third physical characteristic in an area in the intermediate area adjacent to the first read only area is different from the configuration of the third physical characteristic in another area in the intermediate area adjacent to the second read only area, wherein the third physical characteristic changes physically in the intermediate area so as to connect the first read only area to the second read only area continuously, wherein the first read only area has a first address, wherein the second read only area has a second address, wherein the intermediate area has a third address, and further wherein the first address is connected to the third address continuously and the third address is connected to the second address continuously.