Patent ID: 7120099

Claim:
A laser output circuit for an optical disk recording apparatus in which an optical disk is rotated at a constant angular speed and a signal is recorded while the disk is rotated, said laser output circuit comprising: a pickup control circuit for controlling a pickup position at which data is written onto the optical disk; a signal recording circuit for supplying to said pickup data to be written onto said optical disk; a signal level detection circuit for detecting a signal level of the signal read by said pickup; and a laser output setting circuit for setting a laser output for the writing of data onto the optical disk by said pickup, wherein test data is written onto a trial writing region on an inner peripheral side of said optical disk and onto an outer peripheral region outside a data writing region, the thus written test data is read from the disk, and said laser output is set in accordance with the signal levels of the test data read from both the trial writing region and the outer peripheral region; wherein said trial writing region, a buffer region, a lead-in region, a program region, and a lead-out region are disposed in order from the inner peripheral side of said optical disk toward the outer peripheral side, and said outer peripheral region is disposed outside the lead-out region; wherein test data is written onto or read from the trial writing region disposed on an inner peripheral side of said optical disk and the outer peripheral region disposed outside of the lead-out region; wherein an inner peripheral side laser output set from the test data read from the trial writing region, and an outer peripheral side laser output set from the test data read from the outer peripheral region are stored in a memory; wherein the inner peripheral side laser output set according to the test data read from the trial writing region and the outer peripheral side laser output set according to the test data read from the outer peripheral region are deleted from the memory when the disk is replaced; and wherein the inner peripheral side laser output set according to the test data read from the trial writing region and the outer peripheral side laser output set according to the test data read from the outer peripheral region are deleted from the memory when a predetermined time elapses after the end of a recording operation.