Method of determining head characteristic of hdd and recording medium to perform the same

Abstract

A method of determining a head characteristic, i.e. determining whether a head has a write characteristic stronger or weaker than that of a normal write head, and a recording medium suitable to perform the method. The method includes detecting a first error rate by writing data and then reading the written data without control pole tip protrusion (PTP) contralto compensate for thermal pole tip protrusion (TPTP) in a state where the head is fully cooled, detecting a second error rate by writing data and then reading the written data with the PTP control in the state where the head is fully cooled, calculating a difference between the first error rate and the second error rate, and determining based on the calculated error rate difference whether the head is a strong write head having a stronger write characteristic than that of the normal write head or a weak write head having a weaker write characteristic than that of the normal write head. Accordingly, since an adjacent track write (ATW) problem, which may occur due to a narrow gap between adjacent tracks, and a weak write problem, which may occur due to a short media recording length per data bit, can be simultaneously considered, high reliability can be secured in terms of recording and reproducing in an HDD.