The control circuitry for active rectification usually uses comparators to sense the voltage of the input AC and open the transistors at the correct times to allow current to flow in the correct direction. The timing is very important, as a short circuit across the input power must be avoided and can easily be caused by one transistor turning on before another has turned off. Active rectifiers also clearly still need the smoothing capacitors present in passive examples to provide smoother power than rectification does alone.