Abstract: In this paper we introduce an efficient view-dependent refinement technique well suited to adaptive visualization of 3D triangle meshes on a graphic terminal. Our main goal is the design of fast and robust, smooth surface reconstruction from coarse meshes. We demonstrate that the sqrt(3)-subdivision operator recently introduced by Kobbelt offers many benefits, including view-dependent refinement, removal of polygonal aspect and a highly tunable level of detail adaptation. In particular, we propose a new data structure that requires neither edges nor hierarchies for efficient and reversible view-dependent refinement. Results on various 3D meshes illustrate the relevance of the technique.