> ... they are high resolution elevation models that we've used GIS software to light and create hillshade.

> ... These images are not traditional maps, but a map is a depiction/representation, which these are. Anyway, "map" is certainly shorter than "visual representation of a geographic area" so it's what we go with.

Okay, that makes sense to a certain degree. Seems what you are doing is innovative enough that it deserves a new category of "map".

Have you considered transfering your methods from the macro to the micro world? If I understand it correctly, you could in principle inverse the zoom factors, like using the elevation model of a coin combined with texture data and a lighting model and printing a much larger version of it on a canvas.