crates/pf-vkdecode/src/caps.rs

@@ -185,8 +185,12 @@ pub enum MaxLevelIdc {
     H265(hh::StdVideoH265LevelIdc),
     /// `VkVideoDecodeAV1CapabilitiesKHR::maxLevel`. Unlike the other two this code
     /// space is the BITSTREAM's own: `StdVideoAV1Level` is index-coded exactly like
-    /// AV1's `seq_level_idx` (2.0 = 0, 2.1 = 1, … 7.3 = 23), so the decoder's gate
-    /// compares the sequence header's value against it directly.
+    /// AV1's `seq_level_idx` (2.0 = 0, 2.1 = 1, … 7.3 = 23).
+    ///
+    /// ⚠ Only over 0…23. `seq_level_idx` is 5 bits, and 31 is Annex A's "maximum
+    /// parameters" sentinel — no level constraint — which outranks even a device
+    /// reporting the enum's top value. The AV1 gate therefore treats a stream above
+    /// this ceiling as advisory instead of refusing it (`VkAv1Decoder::ensure_state`).
     Av1(hh::StdVideoAV1Level),
 }
 

crates/pf-vkdecode/src/caps_av1.rs

@@ -211,9 +211,16 @@ pub struct RawAv1Caps {
     pub max_coded_extent: vk::Extent2D,
     pub max_dpb_slots: u32,
     pub max_active_reference_pictures: u32,
-    /// `VkVideoDecodeAV1CapabilitiesKHR::maxLevel` (index-coded Std level — the
-    /// SAME numbering as the bitstream's `seq_level_idx`, which is what makes the
-    /// decoder's level gate a plain comparison).
+    /// `VkVideoDecodeAV1CapabilitiesKHR::maxLevel` (index-coded Std level — the same
+    /// numbering as the bitstream's `seq_level_idx` OVER 0…23, which is the whole
+    /// range `StdVideoAV1Level` enumerates).
+    ///
+    /// ⚠ That correspondence does not extend to the rest of the bitstream field.
+    /// `seq_level_idx` is 5 bits: 24…30 are reserved and 31 is Annex A's "maximum
+    /// parameters" sentinel — "not constrained to a level" — which has no Std code
+    /// point and is NOT an ordering above 7.3. The decoder's gate therefore treats
+    /// a stream above this ceiling as advisory rather than comparing it as a level
+    /// (`VkAv1Decoder::ensure_state`).
     pub max_level: hh::StdVideoAV1Level,
     /// `VkVideoCapabilitiesKHR::stdHeaderVersion` — session creation echoes it back.
     pub std_header_version: vk::ExtensionProperties,

crates/pf-vkdecode/src/decoder_av1.rs

@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ use pf_bitstream::av1::NUM_REF_SLOTS;
 use pf_bitstream::h264::DisplayCrop;
 use tracing::debug;
 use tracing::trace;
+use tracing::warn;
 
 use crate::caps::DecodeCaps;
 use crate::caps::DecodeProfile;
@@ -688,6 +689,10 @@ pub struct VkAv1Decoder {
     /// through a temporal unit, which is why the skip is per FRAME while the error
     /// is per ACCESS UNIT.
     awaiting_key: bool,
+    /// One-shot latch for the over-declared-level warning, so a stream whose
+    /// sequence header sits above the device ceiling says so once per decoder
+    /// rather than once per access unit (`ensure_state` runs per AU).
+    level_advisory_warned: bool,
 }
 
 impl VkAv1Decoder {
@@ -728,6 +733,7 @@ impl VkAv1Decoder {
             device_lost: false,
             recovery: RecoveryLatch::default(),
             awaiting_key: false,
+            level_advisory_warned: false,
         })
     }
 
@@ -745,8 +751,10 @@ impl VkAv1Decoder {
     ///
     /// The negotiated facts are a HINT (the in-band sequence header is
     /// authoritative), so this is deliberately not a promise that decode will
-    /// succeed: the level ceiling and a sequence header that disagrees with the
-    /// Welcome still surface at the first AU.
+    /// succeed: a coded extent outside the caps, a DPB deeper than the device
+    /// allows, and a sequence header that disagrees with the Welcome all still
+    /// surface at the first AU. The declared LEVEL is not among them — it is
+    /// advisory, and `ensure_state` only warns on it.
     pub fn probe_stream_support(
         &self,
         chroma_format_idc: u8,
@@ -1478,8 +1486,9 @@ impl VkAv1Decoder {
         self.flush();
     }
 
-    /// Session/caps for THIS plan exist and match its extent + profile, and the
-    /// stream sits inside the device's level ceiling.
+    /// Session/caps for THIS plan exist and match its extent + profile. A declared
+    /// level above the device ceiling warns once and proceeds — see the gate below
+    /// for why an AV1 `seq_level_idx` is advisory and 31 is not even a level.
     fn ensure_state(&mut self, plan: &AuPlan) -> Result<(), VkDecodeError> {
         let key = profile_key_for(plan)?;
         if self.caps.as_ref().map(|(k, _)| *k) != Some(key) {
@@ -1491,17 +1500,39 @@ impl VkAv1Decoder {
                 unsafe { query_av1_caps(&self.dev, key) }.map_err(|r| caps_query_error(r, key))?;
             self.caps = Some((key, derive_caps_av1(&raw, wanted)?));
         }
-        // The level gate. AV1's `StdVideoAV1Level` is index-coded exactly like the
-        // bitstream's `seq_level_idx` (2.0 = 0 … 7.3 = 23) and ascends with the
-        // level, so this is a plain comparison — of AV1 code points against an AV1
-        // ceiling, the pairing `MaxLevelIdc`'s tag exists to keep honest.
+        // The declared level vs the device ceiling: a DECLARED level above `maxLevel`
+        // is NOT a refusal, for the reason `VkH265Decoder::ensure_state` spells out —
+        // the level is a CLAIM, and the stream's real demands are enforced where they
+        // are physical facts (coded extent and DPB depth, checked in `rebuild_state`).
+        //
+        // AV1 makes the point sharper than H.265 did. `seq_level_idx` is a 5-bit
+        // field; Annex A defines 0…23 (levels 2.0…7.3) and reserves 24…30, but **31 is
+        // the "maximum parameters" level — the spec's own way of saying the bitstream
+        // is not constrained to any level at all**. `StdVideoAV1Level` has no code
+        // point for it (it stops at 7.3 = 23), so the index-coded comparison that
+        // holds across 0…23 is meaningless against 31: the sentinel is not a level
+        // and 31 > 23 is not "too demanding". Real-time encoders emit it as a matter
+        // of course — a 2026-08-13 field report (RTX 5060 client, 4K120) had EVERY
+        // AV1 session demote to D3D11VA on "stream level (seq_level_idx 31) above the
+        // device's maxLevel (AV1 Std level 23)" while the same hardware decoded the
+        // stream trivially. We never write an AV1 level on any host encode path, so
+        // whatever the vendor defaults to is what the client must accept.
+        //
+        // Unlike H.265 there is nothing to clamp: `StdVideoAV1SequenceHeader` carries
+        // no level field (see `params_av1`), so the declaration never reaches the
+        // driver and cannot be invalid usage. Warn once, proceed.
         let caps_max_level = self.caps.as_ref().expect("queried above").1.max_level_idc;
         let stream_level = u32::from(stream_level_idx(plan));
-        if stream_level > caps_max_level.code_point() {
-            return Err(VkDecodeError::Unsupported(format!(
-                "stream level (seq_level_idx {stream_level}) above the device's \
-                 maxLevel ({caps_max_level})"
-            )));
+        if stream_level > caps_max_level.code_point() && !self.level_advisory_warned {
+            self.level_advisory_warned = true;
+            warn!(
+                stream_level,
+                ceiling = %caps_max_level,
+                "stream declares an AV1 level above the device ceiling — the declared \
+                 level is advisory (seq_level_idx 31 means \"maximum parameters\", and \
+                 encoders over-declare); proceeding, since the level never reaches the \
+                 driver"
+            );
         }
         let coded = coded_extent(plan);
         match &self.state {
@@ -2907,10 +2938,45 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(key.output_format(), Some(crate::caps::NV12));
         assert!(!key.film_grain);
 
-        // The level gate reads operating point 0 and stays inside the Std range.
+        // The level gate reads operating point 0. This vector declares a real level,
+        // inside the Std range — the sentinel case is pinned separately below.
         assert!(stream_level_idx(&plan) <= 23);
     }
 
+    /// `seq_level_idx` 31 is Annex A's "maximum parameters" — "not constrained to a
+    /// level" — not a level above 7.3, and `StdVideoAV1Level` has no code point for
+    /// it. Comparing it as an ordinary level is what demoted every AV1 session on a
+    /// 2026-08-13 field report (RTX 5060, 4K120): `maxLevel` came back 23 (7.3, the
+    /// device's own maximum) and 31 > 23 refused a stream the hardware decodes fine.
+    ///
+    /// This pins the ARITHMETIC that made the refusal look reasonable, so nobody
+    /// restores the gate by reading `31 > 23` as "too demanding":
+    #[test]
+    fn the_av1_max_parameters_sentinel_is_not_a_level_above_the_ceiling() {
+        // The ceiling as the gate reads it, on a device that decodes everything the
+        // Std enum can name — 7.3, the top code point there is.
+        let ceiling = crate::caps::MaxLevelIdc::Av1(hh::StdVideoAV1Level_STD_VIDEO_AV1_LEVEL_7_3);
+        assert_eq!(ceiling.code_point(), 23, "the Std enum's top code point");
+
+        // Every `seq_level_idx` the Std enum names compares sanely against it…
+        for idx in 0..=ceiling.code_point() {
+            assert!(idx <= ceiling.code_point());
+        }
+        // …and everything above is OUTSIDE that code space, not above the ceiling:
+        // 24…30 are reserved and 31 is "maximum parameters". A maxed-out device
+        // cannot satisfy the comparison, which is why it is not a capability test.
+        for idx in (ceiling.code_point() + 1)..=31 {
+            assert!(
+                idx > ceiling.code_point(),
+                "seq_level_idx {idx} is outside the Std range, not a more demanding level"
+            );
+        }
+
+        // The field report's exact pairing, kept legible: 31 against a ceiling of 23.
+        assert!(31 > ceiling.code_point());
+        assert_eq!(format!("{ceiling}"), "AV1 Std level 23");
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn only_a_decoded_key_frame_ends_the_wait_for_one() {
         let mut planner = Av1Planner::new();
@@ -2951,7 +3017,7 @@ mod tests {
     /// `PlanError::AwaitingIdr`, and the reason [`VkAv1Decoder::awaiting_key`]'s
     /// docs carry: a clean `Ok(None)` resets the consumer's demotion streak once
     /// per frame, so a rung whose every key frame fails (film grain on a device
-    /// without the grain profile; a level above `maxLevelIdc`; a sequence header
+    /// without the grain profile; a coded extent outside the caps; a sequence header
     /// disagreeing with the negotiation) would never demote and the session would
     /// hold a frozen screen with a clean bill of health.
     ///

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/frame_channel.rs

@@ -47,7 +47,15 @@ pub(crate) const FLUSH_AFTER: Duration = Duration::from_millis(250);
 /// Minimum spacing between jump-to-live events, so a bottleneck that instantly rebuilds the queue (a
 /// link/consumer that can't sustain the bitrate at all) degrades into a periodic skip + a logged
 /// warning instead of a continuous flush/keyframe storm.
-pub(crate) const FLUSH_COOLDOWN: Duration = Duration::from_secs(2);
+///
+/// **Public because the HOST needs it to read its own logs.** Each jump-to-live sends a keyframe
+/// request, so a client that cannot sustain the rate asks for one at exactly this spacing,
+/// forever — and the host's recovery-cadence detector saw that perfect periodicity and blamed a
+/// periodic *display* disturbance (2026-08-13 field log: `period_s=2.0`, three subsystems named,
+/// none of them the cause). Perfect periodicity is the signature of a fixed software cooldown,
+/// not of a physical disturbance. The host compares against this constant rather than a copy of
+/// the number, so the two can never drift apart.
+pub const FLUSH_COOLDOWN: Duration = Duration::from_secs(2);
 
 /// A clock-triggered jump-to-live that discarded fewer datagrams than this (and no queued AUs)
 /// found NO local backlog: the frames read as late, but nothing here was actually behind. Two

crates/punktfunk-core/src/client/mod.rs

@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ mod recovery;
 mod rumble;
 mod worker;
 
+pub use self::frame_channel::FLUSH_COOLDOWN;
 pub use self::planes::AudioPacket;
 pub use self::probe::ProbeOutcome;
 pub use self::rumble::{ActuatorQuirks, RumbleCommand};

crates/punktfunk-host/src/audio/linux/mod.rs

@@ -62,6 +62,17 @@ pub struct PwAudioCapturer {
     /// active). Toggled by open/[`drain`](AudioCapturer::drain) (claim) and
     /// [`idle`](AudioCapturer::idle)/Drop (release).
     claimed: bool,
+    /// Whether a session is currently CONSUMING this capturer, shared with the PipeWire
+    /// thread so the drop counter can tell "the encode thread fell behind" from "nobody is
+    /// reading". The capturer is host-lifetime and merely PARKED between sessions
+    /// ([`idle`](AudioCapturer::idle)), so without this the producer keeps filling the bounded
+    /// hand-off channel, every `try_send` fails once it is full, and the plane reports a 100 %
+    /// drop rate — warning that "the stream will click" when there is no stream. A 2026-08-13
+    /// field host log carried ten such warnings, up to `dropped_chunks=11251` (= 30 s × 375
+    /// chunks/s, i.e. every single chunk), each one straddling a session boundary and each one
+    /// meaningless. Distinct from `claimed`, which tracks the sink-routing claim and only
+    /// exists when the stream sink is enabled at all.
+    active: Arc<AtomicBool>,
 }
 
 impl PwAudioCapturer {
@@ -90,10 +101,21 @@ impl PwAudioCapturer {
         // mode the sink node must exist before we claim the default to its name.
         let (ready_tx, ready_rx) = sync_channel::<Result<()>>(1);
         let thread_sink_name = sink_name.clone();
+        // Opens at session start (see the routing claim below), so the consumer is live from
+        // the first chunk.
+        let active = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(true));
+        let thread_active = Arc::clone(&active);
         thread::Builder::new()
             .name("punktfunk-pw-audio".into())
             .spawn(move || {
-                if let Err(e) = pw_thread(tx, quit_rx, channels, thread_sink_name, ready_tx) {
+                if let Err(e) = pw_thread(
+                    tx,
+                    quit_rx,
+                    channels,
+                    thread_sink_name,
+                    ready_tx,
+                    thread_active,
+                ) {
                     tracing::error!(error = %format!("{e:#}"), "pipewire audio thread failed");
                 }
             })
@@ -118,12 +140,16 @@ impl PwAudioCapturer {
             quit: quit_tx,
             sink_name,
             claimed,
+            active,
         })
     }
 }
 
 impl Drop for PwAudioCapturer {
     fn drop(&mut self) {
+        // The receiver dies with us; anything the producer still pushes is unwanted by
+        // definition, and it must not be reported as the encode thread falling behind.
+        self.active.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
         if self.claimed {
             self.claimed = false;
             stream_sink::release();
@@ -157,9 +183,15 @@ impl AudioCapturer for PwAudioCapturer {
             stream_sink::claim(name);
             self.claimed = true;
         }
+        // Ordered AFTER the backlog drain, so the producer never counts a drop against a
+        // channel this call is still emptying.
+        self.active.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
     }
 
     fn idle(&mut self) {
+        // Parked: from here the channel fills and stays full, and those drops are nobody's
+        // fault. See `PwAudioCapturer::active`.
+        self.active.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
         if self.claimed {
             self.claimed = false;
             stream_sink::release();
@@ -644,6 +676,7 @@ fn pw_thread(
     channels: u32,
     sink_name: Option<String>,
     ready: std::sync::mpsc::SyncSender<Result<()>>,
+    active: Arc<AtomicBool>,
 ) -> Result<()> {
     use pipewire as pw;
     use pw::{properties::properties, spa};
@@ -735,6 +768,9 @@ fn pw_thread(
             /// never again — the one number that identifies a clamped quantum, invisible on every
             /// subsequent open (including every reopen after a device change).
             reported_quantum: bool,
+            /// Shared with the capturer — see [`PwAudioCapturer::active`]. Read on every
+            /// failed hand-off to keep parked-capturer backpressure out of the drop count.
+            active: Arc<AtomicBool>,
         }
         let ud = CapUd {
             tx,
@@ -742,6 +778,7 @@ fn pw_thread(
             stats: Default::default(),
             last_stats: std::time::Instant::now(),
             reported_quantum: false,
+            active,
         };
         let _listener = stream
             .add_local_listener_with_user_data(ud)
@@ -844,11 +881,15 @@ fn pw_thread(
                         samples.push(f32::from_le_bytes(b));
                     }
                     ud.stats.observe(&samples, ud.channels);
-                    // Non-blocking and lossy, as before — but COUNTED. A full channel means the
-                    // encode thread is not keeping up, and because the encoder simply
-                    // concatenates across the hole every dropped chunk is a click AND a
-                    // permanent shift of everything after it.
-                    if ud.tx.try_send(samples).is_err() {
+                    // Non-blocking and lossy, as before — but COUNTED, and only while a session
+                    // is actually reading. A full channel under a LIVE consumer means the encode
+                    // thread is not keeping up, and because the encoder simply concatenates
+                    // across the hole every dropped chunk is a click AND a permanent shift of
+                    // everything after it. A full channel under a PARKED capturer means nothing
+                    // at all: the capturer is host-lifetime, so between sessions the channel
+                    // fills once and then refuses everything, which counted as a 100 % drop rate
+                    // and warned about a stream that did not exist (`PwAudioCapturer::active`).
+                    if ud.tx.try_send(samples).is_err() && ud.active.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
                         ud.stats.dropped_chunks += 1;
                     }
                     if ud.last_stats.elapsed() >= crate::audio::capture_policy::STATS_EVERY {

crates/punktfunk-host/src/audio/windows/wasapi_cap.rs

@@ -43,6 +43,15 @@ pub struct WasapiLoopbackCapturer {
     channels: u32,
     stop: Arc<AtomicBool>,
     join: Option<JoinHandle<()>>,
+    /// Whether a session is currently CONSUMING this capturer, shared with the capture thread
+    /// so the drop counter can tell "the encode thread fell behind" from "nobody is reading".
+    /// The native/gamestream planes park a capturer between sessions
+    /// ([`idle`](AudioCapturer::idle)) instead of dropping it, and the hand-off channel is
+    /// bounded — so without this the thread fills it once, then counts every subsequent chunk
+    /// as a drop and warns that "the stream will click" with no stream to click. Proven on the
+    /// Linux twin by a 2026-08-13 field log (100 % drop rate across session gaps); the parking
+    /// call sites are platform-independent, so this half had the same defect.
+    active: Arc<AtomicBool>,
 }
 
 impl WasapiLoopbackCapturer {
@@ -58,10 +67,13 @@ impl WasapiLoopbackCapturer {
         // rather than a silent dead thread.
         let (ready_tx, ready_rx) = sync_channel::<Result<()>>(1);
         let stop_t = stop.clone();
+        // Opens at session start, so the consumer is live from the first chunk.
+        let active = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(true));
+        let active_t = active.clone();
         let join = thread::Builder::new()
             .name("punktfunk-wasapi-audio".into())
             .spawn(move || {
-                if let Err(e) = capture_thread(tx, stop_t, ready_tx, channels) {
+                if let Err(e) = capture_thread(tx, stop_t, ready_tx, channels, active_t) {
                     tracing::error!(error = %format!("{e:#}"), "wasapi loopback thread failed");
                 }
             })
@@ -76,6 +88,7 @@ impl WasapiLoopbackCapturer {
                     channels,
                     stop,
                     join: Some(join),
+                    active,
                 })
             }
             Ok(Err(e)) => Err(e),
@@ -92,6 +105,9 @@ impl WasapiLoopbackCapturer {
 
 impl Drop for WasapiLoopbackCapturer {
     fn drop(&mut self) {
+        // The receiver dies with us; anything the thread still pushes is unwanted by
+        // definition, and must not be reported as the encode thread falling behind.
+        self.active.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
         self.stop.store(true, Ordering::SeqCst);
         if let Some(j) = self.join.take() {
             let _ = j.join();
@@ -114,6 +130,14 @@ impl AudioCapturer for WasapiLoopbackCapturer {
     }
     fn drain(&mut self) {
         while self.chunks.try_recv().is_ok() {}
+        // Ordered AFTER the backlog drain, so the capture thread never counts a drop against a
+        // channel this call is still emptying.
+        self.active.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    }
+    fn idle(&mut self) {
+        // Parked: from here the channel fills and stays full, and those drops are nobody's
+        // fault. See [`WasapiLoopbackCapturer::active`].
+        self.active.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
     }
 }
 
@@ -167,6 +191,7 @@ fn capture_thread(
     stop: Arc<AtomicBool>,
     ready: SyncSender<Result<()>>,
     channels: u32,
+    active: Arc<AtomicBool>,
 ) -> Result<()> {
     // COM must be initialized on THIS thread (MTA), before any device call.
     if let Err(e) = wasapi::initialize_mta()
@@ -192,7 +217,7 @@ fn capture_thread(
     // is said once per topology — the field log drowned in 256+ copies of the same line.
     let mut unsat_logged: Option<u64> = None;
     while !stop.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
-        match capture_once(&tx, &stop, &mut ready, channels, mode) {
+        match capture_once(&tx, &stop, &mut ready, channels, mode, &active) {
             Ok(Next::Stopped) => break,
             Ok(Next::Reopen(m)) => {
                 mode = m;
@@ -357,6 +382,7 @@ fn capture_once(
     ready: &mut Option<SyncSender<Result<()>>>,
     channels: u32,
     mode: TargetMode,
+    active: &AtomicBool,
 ) -> Result<Next> {
     // Interleaved f32: channels * 4 bytes per frame.
     let block_align = channels as usize * 4;
@@ -611,10 +637,14 @@ fn capture_once(
                 samples.push(f32::from_le_bytes([c[0], c[1], c[2], c[3]]));
             }
             stats.observe(&samples, channels);
-            // Non-blocking, lossy — same discipline as PipeWire. Now COUNTED: a full channel
-            // means the encode thread is not keeping up, and every dropped chunk is a click plus
-            // a permanent shift of everything after it.
-            if tx.try_send(samples).is_err() {
+            // Non-blocking, lossy — same discipline as PipeWire. COUNTED, and only while a
+            // session is actually reading: a full channel under a LIVE consumer means the encode
+            // thread is not keeping up, and every dropped chunk is a click plus a permanent
+            // shift of everything after it. A full channel under a PARKED capturer means nothing
+            // — the planes park capturers between sessions rather than dropping them, so the
+            // channel fills once and then refuses everything
+            // ([`WasapiLoopbackCapturer::active`]).
+            if tx.try_send(samples).is_err() && active.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
                 stats.dropped_chunks += 1;
             }
         }

crates/punktfunk-host/src/native/stream.rs

@@ -2722,14 +2722,35 @@ pub(super) fn virtual_stream(ctx: SessionContext, prepared: Option<PreparedDispl
                 last_forced_idr = Some(now);
                 rfi_echo_swallowed = 0; // the IDR resets the episode — echoes of IT coalesce via the cooldown
                 if let Some(period) = recovery_cadence.note(now) {
-                    tracing::warn!(
-                        period_s = format!("{:.1}", period.as_secs_f64()),
-                        "client keyframe recoveries are METRONOMIC — a periodic host/display \
-                         disturbance (display-topology churn, display-poller software, \
-                         virtual-display timing) is the likely cause, not random network loss; \
-                         correlate with 'slow display-descriptor poll' / 'display descriptor \
-                         changed' / 'IDD-push capture stall' lines"
-                    );
+                    // A period that lands on the CLIENT's jump-to-live cooldown is not evidence
+                    // of a periodic disturbance here at all — it is the client shedding a
+                    // standing receive queue, which it is rate-limited to do exactly this often
+                    // (`punktfunk_core::client::FLUSH_COOLDOWN`), so the cadence is a property of
+                    // our own backpressure code rather than of anything physical. Naming display
+                    // churn there sent a 2026-08-13 field investigation at three innocent
+                    // subsystems while the real chain was: client refused the codec → demoted to
+                    // a slower decode rung → could not sustain the rate → standing queue.
+                    // Perfect periodicity argues FOR a software cooldown, not against it.
+                    if matches_client_flush_cadence(period) {
+                        tracing::warn!(
+                            period_s = format!("{:.1}", period.as_secs_f64()),
+                            "client keyframe recoveries match the client's jump-to-live cooldown \
+                             — the CLIENT cannot sustain the stream and is shedding a standing \
+                             receive queue (check its log for 'receive backlog stopped draining' \
+                             with queue_depth, and for a decode rung that demoted); a slower \
+                             decode path or a link below the bitrate does this, and it is NOT a \
+                             host display disturbance"
+                        );
+                    } else {
+                        tracing::warn!(
+                            period_s = format!("{:.1}", period.as_secs_f64()),
+                            "client keyframe recoveries are METRONOMIC — a periodic host/display \
+                             disturbance (display-topology churn, display-poller software, \
+                             virtual-display timing) is the likely cause, not random network \
+                             loss; correlate with 'slow display-descriptor poll' / 'display \
+                             descriptor changed' / 'IDD-push capture stall' lines"
+                        );
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -3785,6 +3806,23 @@ pub(super) fn virtual_stream(ctx: SessionContext, prepared: Option<PreparedDispl
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Whether a measured keyframe-recovery period is the CLIENT's jump-to-live cooldown rather
+/// than anything happening on this host.
+///
+/// Every jump-to-live sends a keyframe request and is rate-limited to one per
+/// [`punktfunk_core::client::FLUSH_COOLDOWN`], so a client that simply cannot sustain the
+/// stream asks at exactly that spacing for as long as it stays behind. The recovery-cadence
+/// detector reads perfect periodicity as evidence of a periodic *disturbance*, which is
+/// backwards here: a fixed software cooldown is the most periodic thing in the system.
+///
+/// ±10 % — wide enough for scheduling jitter and the request's network trip, narrow enough that
+/// it cannot swallow the disturbance cadences the other branch exists to report (display-mode
+/// churn and descriptor polls run at their own, unrelated periods).
+fn matches_client_flush_cadence(period: std::time::Duration) -> bool {
+    let flush = punktfunk_core::client::FLUSH_COOLDOWN;
+    period.abs_diff(flush) < flush / 10
+}
+
 /// One mode's capture/encode pipeline: (capturer, encoder, first frame, frame interval).
 /// Dropping the capturer tears down the PipeWire stream and the virtual output with it.
 type Pipeline = (
@@ -4597,6 +4635,26 @@ fn build_pipeline(
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
+    /// The 2026-08-13 field log's exact reading — `period_s=2.0` — must be attributed to the
+    /// client's backlog shedding, not to a host display disturbance. The whole point of routing
+    /// on the shared constant is that this stays true if the cooldown is ever retuned, so the
+    /// test derives its cases from `FLUSH_COOLDOWN` instead of hardcoding two seconds.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_recovery_cadence_on_the_clients_cooldown_is_not_blamed_on_the_display() {
+        let flush = punktfunk_core::client::FLUSH_COOLDOWN;
+        assert!(matches_client_flush_cadence(flush), "the field reading");
+        // Scheduling jitter and the request's trip across the link stay inside the band.
+        assert!(matches_client_flush_cadence(flush + flush / 20));
+        assert!(matches_client_flush_cadence(flush - flush / 20));
+
+        // Cadences that are NOT the cooldown still reach the display-disturbance branch — the
+        // band must not be so wide that it swallows them.
+        assert!(!matches_client_flush_cadence(flush / 2));
+        assert!(!matches_client_flush_cadence(flush * 2));
+        assert!(!matches_client_flush_cadence(flush + flush / 5));
+        assert!(!matches_client_flush_cadence(std::time::Duration::ZERO));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn an_escalated_but_caught_up_encoder_stops_refusing_climbs() {
         const DEGRADE: u32 = 10;