> What bothers me more is that when viewed at close range, all 
> heightfields inevitably look "blocky", so I ask myself whether it is 
> possible to convert the height value matrix of a heightfield by 
> "cross-approximating" each row and column into a discrete 3D function 
> like it is used with isosurfaces...

what you can also try is to superimpose random detail from
f_ridged or similar onto a handcrafted lower resolution HF.
Suppose you have some 2048x2048 HF data, but enough free
memory so you could render a much higher resolution.

You can then

1. Define a pigment P based on the HF image_map
2. Define a pigment function FP based on P.gray
3. Define a random detail funtion FR (e.g., f_ridged)
4. Define a terrain function such as 0.9*FP + 0.1*FR
5. Create HF from function image at desired resolution

Of course it's still blocky, but maybe less so.

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