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There are several different rectifier circuits that are in common use and each has its own properties, characteristics and capabilities.

Some are applicable to some situations, whereas other circuits to different situations.

To select the best circuit for the particular circuit and situation, it helps to have a quick summary of the various common rectifier circuit configurations:

• No rectifier:   For this circuit, the output from the transformer is applied directly to the load which sees a full wave alternating voltage.
• Half wave rectifier:   This is the simplest rectifier circuit and it uses a single diode to provide half wave rectification. Half the waveform is passed through the diode leaving the remaining half blocked. The peak of the waveform of 1.414 times the RMS value of the transformer output less a single diode drop.
• Full wave rectifier using a centre tapped transformer:   This circuit uses two diodes to provide full wave rectification utilising both halves of the waveform. The peak voltage output is 1.414 times the RMS voltage from the transformer less a single diode drop. The disadvantage is that this requires a more expensive transformer and each half of the winding is only used for half the cycle.
• Full wave rectifier using bridge rectifier:   This circuit uses a transformer with a single winding and no centre tap on the output to provide full wave rectification. The peak output voltage is 1.1414 times the RMS voltage of the transformer output less two diode drops.
• Full wave bridge rectifier with smoothing:   This circuit uses a full wave bridge rectifier with a capacitor to provide smoothing. Some ripple remains as can be seen, but it is much better than if a half wave rectifier had been used. A voltage regulator may be used to provide a fully regulated output.

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