I am using Google Maps V3 API to plot markers on a map. I have some point data (containing lat, lng, value) that I want to use to create heatmaps and overlay them on the Google Map.
Problem: The heatmap does not change often, probably updates once every 3 months. Will the better method of delivering the heatmap to Google Maps be to convert the data points into a heatmap, generate several (5-9) different zoom version of it, and serve it via a standalone tile server?
If so, how can this conversion to heatmaps, generating different versions be done, and which tile server will be a good interface for the generated tiles and to feed to Google Maps API?
Alternatively, would it be better to generate an array of points (regular N by N grid pattern) with the calculated heatmap values for each point, then generate the heatmap on top of Google Maps using one of those HTML5 + JS plugins? I am concerned about users' browsers not being able to support HTML5 canvas.