I was completing some code to automatically generate pipeline longsections by picking a 2d polyline drawn above a TIN (see 'triangulation' thread) when I noticed the issue. The coding seems to work well, but I can't remember getpoint ever rounding display co-ordinates before.
CAB appears to be correct in that acad is retaining the decimals but displaying them rounded, this gives me peace of mind in my calculations, but it still doesn't explain whats forcing the rounding.
If I start a new drawing all seems fine again, so I still suspect a system variable at the heart of things.