diff --git a/app/src/renderer/src/components/SessionImage.ce.vue b/app/src/renderer/src/components/SessionImage.ce.vue
index ea54e17..0fd9303 100644
--- a/app/src/renderer/src/components/SessionImage.ce.vue
+++ b/app/src/renderer/src/components/SessionImage.ce.vue
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <script setup>
 import { computed, ref } from 'vue';
+import { SESSION_IMAGE_SETTLED_EVENT } from '../session-image-contract.js';
 
 defineOptions({ name: 'SessionImage' });
 
@@ -12,12 +13,24 @@ const props = defineProps({
 const status = ref('loading');
 const accessibleLabel = computed(() => props.alt || props.title || 'Session image');
 
-function handleLoad() {
-  status.value = 'loaded';
+// Announce synchronously, before the resize observation this growth triggers,
+// so the timeline already knows the row is about to change size for a reason
+// the reader did not cause.
+function announceSettled(event) {
+  event.target?.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent(SESSION_IMAGE_SETTLED_EVENT, {
+    bubbles: true,
+    composed: true,
+  }));
 }
 
-function handleError() {
+function handleLoad(event) {
+  status.value = 'loaded';
+  announceSettled(event);
+}
+
+function handleError(event) {
   status.value = 'error';
+  announceSettled(event);
 }
 </script>
 
@@ -32,7 +45,6 @@ function handleError() {
       :src="src"
       :alt="alt"
       :title="title || undefined"
-      loading="lazy"
       decoding="async"
       @load="handleLoad"
       @error="handleError"
diff --git a/app/src/renderer/src/session-timeline-viewport.mjs b/app/src/renderer/src/session-timeline-viewport.mjs
index 3bedb69..726c752 100644
--- a/app/src/renderer/src/session-timeline-viewport.mjs
+++ b/app/src/renderer/src/session-timeline-viewport.mjs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { computed, nextTick, ref } from 'vue';
+import { computed, nextTick, ref, watch } from 'vue';
 import {
   defaultRangeExtractor,
   elementScroll,
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ import {
   useVirtualizer,
 } from '@tanstack/vue-virtual';
 import { createSessionTimelineScrollPolicy } from './session-timeline-scroll-policy.mjs';
+import { SESSION_IMAGE_SETTLED_EVENT } from './session-image-contract.js';
+
+// How long after an image settles its row still counts as "grew because media
+// finished" rather than "grew because the estimate was wrong".
+const MEDIA_SETTLE_WINDOW_MS = 1_000;
 
 function estimatedTextHeight(text = '') {
   return Math.min(560, Math.ceil(String(text).length / 72) * 20);
@@ -126,6 +131,54 @@ export function useSessionTimelineViewport({
   const virtualRows = computed(() => virtualizer.value.getVirtualItems());
   const totalSize = computed(() => virtualizer.value.getTotalSize());
 
+  // virtual-core deliberately skips scroll compensation when an already-measured
+  // row above the viewport is re-measured during an upward scroll, because that
+  // is normally an estimate correction and compensating it makes rows jump while
+  // the reader scrolls back. An image finishing is not an estimate correction:
+  // the row really did get taller, so leaving it uncompensated pushes everything
+  // the reader is looking at down the screen. Track which rows just settled
+  // media and compensate only those.
+  const mediaSettledAt = new Map();
+
+  function noteMediaSettled(event) {
+    const row = event.target?.closest?.('.virtual-timeline-row');
+    const index = Number(row?.dataset?.index);
+    if (!Number.isInteger(index)) return;
+    const now = performance.now();
+    for (const [key, at] of mediaSettledAt) {
+      if (now - at > MEDIA_SETTLE_WINDOW_MS) mediaSettledAt.delete(key);
+    }
+    mediaSettledAt.set(items.value[index]?.key ?? index, now);
+  }
+
+  function isMediaSettling(key) {
+    const at = mediaSettledAt.get(key);
+    if (at === undefined) return false;
+    if (performance.now() - at > MEDIA_SETTLE_WINDOW_MS) {
+      mediaSettledAt.delete(key);
+      return false;
+    }
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  watch(
+    () => timelineElement?.value,
+    (element, previous) => {
+      previous?.removeEventListener(SESSION_IMAGE_SETTLED_EVENT, noteMediaSettled);
+      element?.addEventListener(SESSION_IMAGE_SETTLED_EVENT, noteMediaSettled);
+    },
+    { immediate: true },
+  );
+
+  virtualizer.value.shouldAdjustScrollPositionOnItemSizeChange = (item, _delta, instance) => {
+    if (item.start >= instance.getScrollOffset() + instance.scrollAdjustments) return false;
+    // Never measured before: the estimate is what placed the reader, so the
+    // estimate-to-actual difference always has to be taken out.
+    if (!instance.itemSizeCache.has(item.key)) return true;
+    if (isMediaSettling(item.key)) return true;
+    return instance.scrollDirection !== 'backward';
+  };
+
   function resolveTimelineElement(instance = virtualizer?.value) {
     return timelineElement?.value
       || [...(instance?.elementsCache?.values?.() || [])]