Patent ID: 7031246

Claim:
An optical disc playback method comprising steps of reading medium identification data for an optical disc type from a first lead-in area of an optical disc loaded in an optical disc player; reading data from a second recording area when it is determined based on the read medium identification data that the optical disc loaded in the optical disc player is a one in which a second lead-in area, second recording area provided along the outer circumference of the second lead-in area and a second lead-out area provided along the outer circumference of the second recording area are formed at a smaller track pitch than a first lead-out area provided along the inner circumference of the second lead-in area, first recording area provided along the inner circumference of the first lead-out area and the first lead-in area provided along the inner circumference of the first recording area; and determining whether the data read from the second recording area can be decoded by at least one of a plurality of decoders by attempting to decode the data read from the second recording area on a trial basis using each of the plurality of decoders.