HGT File Viewer

HGT File Viewer is a lightweight and portable tool with a clear and simple goal: to display the content of HGT elevation files with the SRTM 3 ArcSecond type (1 ArcSecond files are not supported). It allows you to navigate height maps or map sections with digital elevation models.

The upsides to portable apps

You can drop the executable file in any part of the hard drive and just click it to run, as well as save HGT File Viewer to a pen drive or other removable storage unit, in order to directly launch it on any computer with minimum effort and no other installers. However, you might require some DLL libraries.
Worth mentioning is that, unlike most installers, portable apps do not make changes to the Windows registry, which means that they do not contribute to the risk of system stability issues.

Plain-looking interface with simple options

The GUI is clearly outdated but easy to work with. Based on a single window with minimal settings, HGT File Viewer lets you indicate HPT elevation files via the file browser or drag-and-drop support.
Once the file is opened, you can enlarge the window as well as find out the height of the current cursor position in the status bar. Unfortunately, there are no other features comprises in this software utility.

Evaluation and conclusion

As expected, HGT File Viewer's impact on computer performance is minimal, thanks to the fact that it uses a low amount of CPU and RAM to work properly. No error dialogs popped up in our tests, and the tool did not hang or crash. Too bad that it contains such limited features. But we must also take into account that HGT File Viewer has not been updated for a long time. Otherwise, it delivers the simplest method to viewing HGT elevation files.