The answer to Sony 's first discman was the SL-XP 7, a portable CD player with the FF-1 Fine-focus laser system and programmable playback in 16-bit resolution.
While Sony is splitting the laser beam into three sub-beams and using the two secondary beams for guidance, the single beam of the technic is directed to a light-sensitive sensor, which is divided into four squares. By shifting the beam between these squares, the deviation from the data track is detected and corrected. The sum of all four squares gives the information signal (0 or 1). The SL-XP 7, which was launched on the market in 1987, is still a remarkable piece of digital technology.