As a method for improving the power factor and the waveform of ac line current drawn by ac to dc converters, converters of pulse-width control type with forced commutation circuits have been developed in recent years. However, these converters have rather complex commutation circuits which contain auxiliary thyristors in addition to the main thyristors, and their performance is not satisfactory. This paper proposes a new pulse-width controlled ac to dc converter, and analyses its commutation mechanism and its input and output characteristics. The proposed converter circuit consists of a usual thyristor bridge circuit with series diodes to which reactors and diodes are added. This circuit dose not contain auxiliary thyristors, and in this sense it is simpler than the previous converter circuits of pulse-width control type. Since the main thyristors of the converter can be forcedly turned off several times in a half cycle of source voltage, a pulse-width modulation control is possible in order to improve the current waveform as well as the power factor on ac line side. As to dc output side it is shown that the adjustable range of output voltage is wide and the voltage regulation is good due to a rapid reversal of voltage across the commutating capacitors by LC resonance during commutation period. It is also shown that the regenerative operation of the converter is possible.