Patent ID: 7046605

Claim:
A method of recording compatibility information on a recording medium, comprising: providing a physical format information zone having a reserved zone; and recording extended part version information in the reserved zone of the physical format information zone, the extended part version information comprising: a detailed extended part version, a latest part version having recording compatibility with a recording/reproducing apparatus of a given specification level, and a latest part version having reproducing compatibility with the recording/reproducing apparatus, wherein: the detailed extended part version, the recording of the latest part version having recording compatibility with the recording/reproducing apparatus, and the recording of the latest part version having reproducing compatibility with the recording/reproducing apparatus, each further comprises an integer part, a first decimal place and a second decimal place recorded in a form n.xy, n represents a specification change having no compatibility with the recording/reproducing apparatus, x represents a specification change having compatibility with the recording/reproducing apparatus, and y represents a minor change having recording/reproducing compatibility with the recording/reproducing apparatus.