Whether you’re planning to use multiple monitors for gaming, an art project, multi-tasking or even more mundane needs, Accell’s UltraAV Display Port/Mini Display Port to DVI Dual Link Active Adapter (try saying that three times fast!) should be one product you’ll want to take a look at. This nifty USB-powered device (no AC adapter!) plugs into your PC’s DisplayPort (or Mini DisplayPort) and then into either a Single or Dual-Link DVI, allowing you to spread your visuals out across all two or three screens. Resolutions of up to 2560×1600 (WQXGA) as well as all HDTV resolutions are supported here and if you’re like me, you’ll probably find yourself wanting to go monitor shopping after seeing how cool this gadget is. Granted, I’d need more space in the home office for a third monitor, so I tested it with two here before the next phase of the trial…

As for that phase, I can safely say that the UltraAV also works great with 3D-enabled LCD monitors, which means your 3D gaming can go panoramic with three screens showing off that new video card with resolutions up to 1920 x 1080. Accell says if you’ve a 3D projector handy, that resolution goes up to 1920 x 1200, but I didn’t have a projector to try this out, so I’ll take their word for it. Image quality on a standard LCD monitor was fantastic with no funky image warping or flickering. Of course, you’ll need a pretty powerful system if you’re running multiple monitors, but this is exactly the sort of niche product that’s not priced towards the casual user or budget gamer who wants to play around with a new toy. Since I’m not big on the whole 3D thing, after giving the Adapter some testing here, I had to hike over to a friend’s place to see this in action using his setup. After helping him move a few things around for a few minutes, then maybe 30 seconds to connect the UltraAV followed by a brief reboot, we were both quite impressed.

According to Accell’s literature. the one thing this doesn’t work on are Blu-Ray movies, so we dutifully decided not to tempt fate and test any out. Hey, I had to return the adapter (it’s on the way back today, Accell!) so I didn’t want it to fry anything or get fried because of anything I did. You can, however, use multiple monitors to scan different web sites, work on three articles at the same time, check your stock quotes like Gordon Gecko (unless you bought Facebook, then you’re crying in your latte) or a combination of all of these. Overall, the UltraAv DisplayPort to Dual-Link Active Adapter is ridiculously easy to set up, works as advertised, comes with a 2-year replacement warranty and at about $109.00, is priced right for what it does. If you’ve got the rig and the room to spare, definitely check this out (as well as some of Accell’s other products, as they’ve got quite the lineup of goodies on their official site).

Score: A