A recording device writes and reads marks that represent information. A radiation source (22) is controlled for writing the marks according to a write strategy on a record carrier (11) arranged according to a predefined recording format. The recording format defines pre-recorded disc information including a disc type identifier and disc recording parameters. The device has a control unit (20) for setting the write strategy, a strategy table (31) containing strategy data sets, each strategy data set containing parameters defining a respective, preset write strategy, and a lookup table (32) for containing disc type entries, each disc type entry being retrievable based on a disc type identifier and indicating one of the strategy data sets. The control unit (20) is arranged for detecting an actual disc type identifier from the actual disc information, and setting the write strategy based on an applicable strategy data set retrieved from the strategy table in dependence on the actual disc type identifier and the lookup table.