diff --git a/services/web-ui/public/recorders.html b/services/web-ui/public/recorders.html
index 9e65b45..9b23f5f 100644
--- a/services/web-ui/public/recorders.html
+++ b/services/web-ui/public/recorders.html
@@ -421,6 +421,15 @@
     }
     empty.style.display = 'none';
 
+    // Skip full DOM rebuild if structure is unchanged — the per-second timer
+    // and the signal poll will update the dynamic fields in place. Rebuilding
+    // every 5s was tearing down the live <video> element and the timer span.
+    const sig = pState.recorders.map(r => r.id + ':' + r.status + ':' + (r.live_asset_id || '') + ':' + (r.started_at || '')).join('|');
+    if (sig === pState._lastRenderSig && grid.children.length === pState.recorders.length) {
+      return;
+    }
+    pState._lastRenderSig = sig;
+
     grid.innerHTML = pState.recorders.map(rec => {
       const isRecording = rec.status === 'recording';
       const cfg = rec.source_config || {};
@@ -480,11 +489,11 @@
         <div class="recorder-status-row">
           <span class="status-dot ${statusDotClass}" id="statusDot-${rec.id}"></span>
           <span class="text-sm" id="statusText-${rec.id}" style="color:${isRecording ? 'var(--accent)' : rec.status === 'error' ? 'var(--status-red)' : 'var(--text-secondary)'}">
-            ${isRecording ? 'Connecting...' : rec.status === 'error' ? 'Error' : 'Idle'}
+            ${(() => { if (rec.status === 'error') return 'Error'; if (!isRecording) return 'Idle'; const sg = (pState.signals[rec.id]||{}).signal; if (sg === 'lost') return 'Signal lost'; if (sg === 'error') return 'Connection error'; if (sg === 'connecting') return 'Connecting...'; return 'Recording'; })()}
           </span>
-          ${isRecording ? `<span class="recorder-timer" id="timer-${rec.id}">00:00:00</span>` : ''}
+          ${isRecording ? `<span class="recorder-timer" id="timer-${rec.id}">${rec.started_at ? formatDur(Math.max(0, Math.floor((Date.now() - new Date(rec.started_at).getTime())/1000))) : "00:00:00"}</span>` : ''}
         </div>
-        ${isRecording ? `<div class="signal-strip" id="signalStrip-${rec.id}"><div class="signal-strip-fill"></div></div><div class="recorder-status-row" style="font-size:var(--text-xs);"><span id="signal-${rec.id}" style="color:var(--text-tertiary);font-family:var(--font-mono);letter-spacing:0.02em">Connecting…</span></div>` : ''}
+        ${isRecording ? `<div class="signal-strip" id="signalStrip-${rec.id}"><div class="signal-strip-fill"></div></div><div class="recorder-status-row" style="font-size:var(--text-xs);"><span id="signal-${rec.id}" style="color:var(--text-tertiary);font-family:var(--font-mono);letter-spacing:0.02em">${(pState.signals[rec.id]||{}).signal === "lost" ? "No signal — stream dropped" : (pState.signals[rec.id]||{}).signal === "error" ? "Capture error" : "Receiving stream"}</span></div>` : ''}
         ${isRecording && rec.live_asset_id ? `<div class="recorder-preview"><video id="livevideo-${rec.id}" data-live-id="${rec.live_asset_id}" muted playsinline autoplay></video><div class="recorder-preview-stamp"><span class="recorder-preview-dot"></span>LIVE</div></div>` : ''}
 
         <div class="recorder-source">