Browsers for large geometric data visualization

A representation of a physical object can be displayed even where the amount of geometric data is too large to be stored in resident memory. A primary viewing window displays point data for the object using a substantially even sampling of data at an appropriate point density for the system. At least one auxiliary viewing window displays a two-dimensional representation of the point data. A user can select a portion of the data in the auxiliary window(s), such as by selecting cells of an overlaid grid, to be displayed in the primary window using a rendering such as a "visible" rendering. The remainder of the displayed data can be displayed using a rendering such as a "hidden" or "transparent" rendering. The resolution of the selected region can be increased while maintaining a substantially even spacing among points for the region. The resolution of the unselected region can be decreased accordingly.