diff --git a/src/host/wayland.rs b/src/host/wayland.rs
index 7d17677..92a9986 100644
--- a/src/host/wayland.rs
+++ b/src/host/wayland.rs
@@ -132,12 +132,18 @@ pub async fn start(opts: &HostOpts) -> Result<CaptureHandle> {
             "!",
             "fdsink",
             "fd=1",
-            // video branch
+            // video branch — videorate caps to 30fps so we don't ship at the
+            // monitor's refresh rate (e.g. 180Hz) and pile up frames in mpv's
+            // demuxer queue faster than realtime.
             "pipewiresrc",
             &format!("fd={raw_fd}"),
             &format!("path={node_id}"),
             "do-timestamp=true",
             "!",
+            "videorate",
+            "!",
+            &format!("video/x-raw,framerate={}/1", opts.framerate),
+            "!",
             "queue",
             "!",
             "videoconvert",
diff --git a/src/viewer/mod.rs b/src/viewer/mod.rs
index bfb931f..2452c88 100644
--- a/src/viewer/mod.rs
+++ b/src/viewer/mod.rs
@@ -46,7 +46,9 @@ fn print_viewer_banner(port: u16) {
     eprintln!("┌─ PixelPass · viewer ───────────────────────────────────────");
     eprintln!("│  Connected to host. Open the stream in your player:");
     eprintln!("│");
-    eprintln!("│    mpv --profile=low-latency --untimed {url}");
+    eprintln!(
+        "│    mpv --profile=low-latency --untimed --audio-buffer=0.2 --demuxer-max-bytes=2M --demuxer-readahead-secs=0.5 {url}"
+    );
     eprintln!("│    vlc --network-caching=200 --live-caching=200 {url}");
     eprintln!("│");
     eprintln!("│  Press Ctrl+C to disconnect.");