Patent attributes
An optical pickup for recording or reproducing an information signal in an optical disc includes a light source for emitting a light beam toward the optical disc, an objective lens for focusing the light beam emitted from the light source onto a recording surface of the optical disc, and a photodetector for receiving the light beam reflected by the recording surface of the optical disc and outputting a signal corresponding to an intensity of the received light beam. A spot of the light beam received by the photodetector is asymmetric in both a radial direction and a tangential direction of the optical disc. A lens shift signal for the objective lens is detected by a controller on the basis of the signal output from the photodetector, the controller controlling the objective lens to follow the optical disc.