Bridge Rectifier

A diode bridge or bridge rectifier is an arrangement of four diodes in a bridge configuration that provides the same polarity of output voltage for any polarity of input voltage. When used in its most common application, for conversion of alternating current (AC) input into direct current (DC) output, it is known as a bridge rectifier. A bridge rectifier provides full-wave rectification from a two-wire AC input, resulting in lower cost and weight as compared to a center-tapped transformer design, but has two diode drops rather than one, thus exhibiting reduced efficiency over a center-tapped design for the same output voltage.