A method for recording data on an optical medium is disclosed. In one
embodiment, the method includes receiving a first plurality of frames of
data at a Cross Interleave Reed-Solomon Code (CIRC) encoder, encoding the
first plurality of frames of data by the CIRC encoder to generate a
second plurality of frames of data, generating a set of data to form a Q
sub-channel, altering selected data bits in the Q sub-channel to form an
encoded Q sub-channel, forming a plurality of control bytes including the
encoded Q sub-channel, adding one of the control bytes to each one of the
second plurality of frames of data to generate a third plurality of
frames of data, encoding selected portions of the third plurality of
frames of data by an EFM encoder to generate a plurality of channel
frames, and recording the channel frames on the optical medium. This
method allows CDs to be recorded that cannot be played by conventional CD
players. A corresponding optical disk playback system and method for
receiving, decoding and presenting data are also disclosed.