diff --git a/js/scenes/SurfaceScene.js b/js/scenes/SurfaceScene.js
index 8a005f9..7c3db85 100644
--- a/js/scenes/SurfaceScene.js
+++ b/js/scenes/SurfaceScene.js
@@ -87,8 +87,7 @@ export class SurfaceScene extends Phaser.Scene {
     // v4: add.video(x, y, key) — the key is the LAST argument (it loads the
     // cached clip and attaches the <video> element).
     const v = this.add.video(0, 0, this.landKey).setOrigin(0.5).setDepth(10);
-    this.fitCover(v);
-    v.setVolume(this.clipVolume());
+    this.attachClip(v);
 
     this.landVideo = v;
     // Fire it straight away. If the browser's autoplay policy locks it
@@ -99,11 +98,28 @@ export class SurfaceScene extends Phaser.Scene {
     v.play();
     v.on('complete', () => this.startSurface()); // played once → surface
     v.on('error', () => this.startSurface()); // broken clip → don't strand the player
-    // Safety valve: a stalled element (neither complete nor error) still
-    // gets the player to the deck.
-    this.time.delayedCall(8000, () => {
-      if (this.landVideo === v && this.phase === 'landing') this.startSurface();
+
+    const el = v.video;
+    // The clip must play to its END before the surface stage (loop clip +
+    // deck), so no fixed "8s" valve — the current clips are ~15s and a
+    // constant would cut the landing in half. Two targeted guards instead:
+    //  1. STALLED — a clip that never starts moving (autoplay locked and
+    //     never unlocked, decode failure, …) must not hold the deck: after
+    //     a grace period with no playback progress, advance anyway.
+    //  2. CAP — 'ended' is expected by duration + margin; if the element
+    //     goes silent before it, advance anyway.
+    const playing = () => !!el && (el.currentTime > 0.1 || !el.paused);
+    this.time.delayedCall(5000, () => {
+      if (this.landVideo === v && this.phase === 'landing' && !playing()) {
+        this.startSurface();
+      }
     });
+    const durS = Number(el && el.duration);
+    if (Number.isFinite(durS) && durS > 0) {
+      this.time.delayedCall(durS * 1000 + 5000, () => {
+        if (this.landVideo === v && this.phase === 'landing') this.startSurface();
+      });
+    }
   }
 
   // ------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -121,8 +137,7 @@ export class SurfaceScene extends Phaser.Scene {
 
     if (this.hasVideo(this.surfaceKey)) {
       const s = this.add.video(0, 0, this.surfaceKey).setOrigin(0.5).setDepth(10);
-      this.fitCover(s);
-      s.setVolume(this.clipVolume());
+      this.attachClip(s);
       s.setLoop(true);
       s.play();
       this.surfaceVideo = s;
@@ -286,15 +301,37 @@ export class SurfaceScene extends Phaser.Scene {
     return !!(c && typeof c.has === 'function' && c.has(key));
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Cover-fit a clip to the screen and keep it that way.
+   *
+   * v4 quirk: the video object's bookkeeping size (width/height, and even
+   * frame.realWidth) is a placeholder until the first presented frame
+   * lands — sizing against it (setDisplaySize divides by that width) ends
+   * up ~3.4× too big, because the frame swap preserves the SCALE, not the
+   * size. That's how the clips rendered heavily zoomed in. So:
+   *  - fit now with the best known dimensions (a placeholder-free guess),
+   *  - re-fit on 'created', which fires on the first presented frame and
+   *    carries the clip's true (w, h) — after that, frame × scale is
+   *    authoritative and stable for the clip's whole life.
+   */
+  attachClip(v) {
+    v.setVolume(this.clipVolume());
+    this.fitCover(v);
+    v.on('created', (vv, w, h) => {
+      if (vv === v) this.fitCover(vv, w, h);
+    });
+  }
+
   /** Cover-scale: the clip fills the screen, cropping whatever overflows. */
-  fitCover(v) {
-    const vw = (v.video && v.video.width) || v.width || 864;
-    const vh = (v.video && v.video.height) || v.height || 480;
+  fitCover(v, iw = 0, ih = 0) {
+    const el = v.video;
+    const vw = iw || (el && (el.videoWidth || el.width)) || (v.frame && v.frame.realWidth) || 864;
+    const vh = ih || (el && (el.videoHeight || el.height)) || (v.frame && v.frame.realHeight) || 480;
     const W = this.scale.width;
     const H = this.scale.height;
     const s = Math.max(W / vw, H / vh);
     v.setPosition(W / 2, H / 2);
-    v.setDisplaySize(vw * s, vh * s);
+    v.setScale(s);
   }
 
   clipVolume() {