The vertex shader needs an extra generating pattern and the calculation of subdivision level is complicated when subdividing terrain grid. A Level of Detail (LOD) terrain rendering algorithm using subdivision shader was put forward for the insufficiency. The proposed method used block quad tree organization to build a rough terrain grid hierarchical structure, and filtrated the activity terrain blocks by LOD discrimination function. A subdivision factor calculation method was proposed based on viewpoint in a three-dimensional continuous distance in tessellation control shader and cracks of the external factor segment was eliminated. As a result, displacement mapping on tessellation evaluation shader and displacement of height component in fine grid blocks were achieved. Meanwhile, the quadtree was saved to vertex buffer, and the exchange of resource between Central Processing Unit (CPU) and Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) was decreased. The subdivision process was accelerated by bringing in subdivision queue. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has a smooth detail level transition and good subdivision effect, and it can increase the utilization ratio of GPU and terrain rendering efficiency.