An apparatus for facilitating the navigation of a distal end of a catheter or the like from a first location within a subject to a second location within the subject with reference to images reflecting relative positions of the distal catheter end as the distal catheter end is displaced from the first location to the second location, the apparatus comprising: a monitor configured to display a series of images, each corresponding to a position of the distal catheter end at a successive time, as the distal catheter end is displaced from the first location to the second location based on a selected time increment; sensors configured to sense the location of the distal end of the catheter (40a, 311) at one or more selected rates to produce location data of the catheter corresponding to a position P i of the catheter distal end at a time T i for each time increment as the distal catheter end is displaced from the first location to the second location; a processor coupled to the sensors and the monitor and configured to process, for each position P i, the location data corresponding to the position P i to respectively produce an image I i reflecting the position of the distal catheter end at the time T i, such that each image I i is successively displayed at a time equal to T i + d seconds, where d is a visualization delay that includes the time spent to process the location data corresponding to the position P i to produce the image I i; and the processor configured to be able to switch the processing of the respective location data from being performed by a first process associated with a first visualization delay that produces serial images of catheter movement that have a predetermined characteristic to a second process associated with a second different visualization delay that produces serial images of catheter movement that have a different characteristic such that: upon a condition that the catheter distal end is displaced to a selected interim location between the first and second locations, the processing of the location data corresponding to positions P i to respectively produce images I i reflecting the position of the distal catheter end at times T i is switchable from being performed by the first process to being performed by the second process; and further comprising a processor control configured to enable an operator to designate anatomical regions of a subject where respective specified processes are automatically switched to by the processor upon a condition that the distal end of the catheter enters a designated anatomical region. a monitor configured to display a series of images, each corresponding to a position of the distal catheter end at a successive time, as the distal catheter end is displaced from the first location to the second location based on a selected time increment; sensors configured to sense the location of the distal end of the catheter (40a, 311) at one or more selected rates to produce location data of the catheter corresponding to a position P i of the catheter distal end at a time T i for each time increment as the distal catheter end is displaced from the first location to the second location; a processor coupled to the sensors and the monitor and configured to process, for each position P i, the location data corresponding to the position P i to respectively produce an image I i reflecting the position of the distal catheter end at the time T i, such that each image I i is successively displayed at a time equal to T i + d seconds, where d is a visualization delay that includes the time spent to process the location data corresponding to the position P i to produce the image I i; and the processor configured to be able to switch the processing of the respective location data from being performed by a first process associated with a first visualization delay that produces serial images of catheter movement that have a predetermined characteristic to a second process associated with a second different visualization delay that produces serial images of catheter movement that have a different characteristic such that: upon a condition that the catheter distal end is displaced to a selected interim location between the first and second locations, the processing of the location data corresponding to positions P i to respectively produce images I i reflecting the position of the distal catheter end at times T i is switchable from being performed by the first process to being performed by the second process; and further comprising a processor control configured to enable an operator to designate anatomical regions of a subject where respective specified processes are automatically switched to by the processor upon a condition that the distal end of the catheter enters a designated anatomical region. upon a condition that the catheter distal end is displaced to a selected interim location between the first and second locations, the processing of the location data corresponding to positions P i to respectively produce images I i reflecting the position of the distal catheter end at times T i is switchable from being performed by the first process to being performed by the second process; and further comprising a processor control configured to enable an operator to designate anatomical regions of a subject where respective specified processes are automatically switched to by the processor upon a condition that the distal end of the catheter enters a designated anatomical region.