Patent ID: 7432487

Claim:
A device for correcting an output from an optical pickup including a light emitting element, an objective lens for collecting light projected from the light emitting element on an optical disc, and a light receiving unit for receiving the light reflected by the optical disc; the device comprising: a light dividing element for dividing the light reflected by the optical disc; a detection means for detecting a focus error signal based on an output of the light receiving unit; and a correction means for correcting the focus error signal detected in the detection means; wherein the light receiving unit includes a first light receiving part for receiving a zero-dimensional light divided by the light dividing element and a second light receiving part, arranged in the vicinity of the first light receiving part, for receiving a plurality of one-dimensional lights divided by the light dividing element; the second light receiving part includes a plurality of light receiving elements arrayed in a direction parallel to a radial direction of the optical disc and respectively adapted to receive the a plurality of one-dimensional lights, the light receiving elements being divided into a plurality of groups, a pair of light receiving elements for receiving the one-dimensional light having a same focal length belonging to the same group; each light receiving element is configured by a plurality of light receiving cells divided in a direction orthogonal to the arraying direction; the detection means detects the focus error signal based on the output of the light receiving cells of each light receiving element; and the correction means calculates a correction value based on a difference in the outputs of the pair of light receiving elements belonging to at least one group, and corrects the focus error signal detected by the detection means based on the correction value.