Patent ID: 7215616

Claim:
A method of recording information on a writable or rewritable medium by means of a radiation beam having a write power level, the method comprising the acts of: determining an optimum write power level for writing to the medium by performing an Optimum Power Calibration (OPC) protocol; writing a series of test writings to the medium using the optimum write power level; sampling reflected signals from the test writings to form a sampled signal; directing the sampled signal into a power control loop; calibrating the power control loop to establish the write power level within a minimum value and a maximum value for the write power level, said minimum value and said maximum value being proportional to the optimum write power level; writing information to a recording surface of the medium while sampling signals reflected from a write spot on the medium, the write spot being an area on the recording surface to which the radiation beam is currently writing; and changing the write power level based on the sampling signals within the minimum value and the maximum value such that a substantially constant writing power received by the recording surface is maintained.