diff --git a/LOTUS_BUGS.md b/LOTUS_BUGS.md
index 258a1030b..7e50cda46 100644
--- a/LOTUS_BUGS.md
+++ b/LOTUS_BUGS.md
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ This document tracks identified bugs, edge cases, and architectural discrepancie
 | :---------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------- | :----- |
 | State Sync              | Fire-and-forget network call to set offline presence during `pagehide` event may not complete reliably, potentially causing UI drift in presence status. | `cinny/src/app/hooks/usePresenceUpdater.ts`     | OPEN   |
 | State Sync              | Fire-and-forget network call `setPresence().catch(...)` suppresses errors, meaning the app may falsely assume presence update success.                   | `cinny/src/app/hooks/usePresenceUpdater.ts`     | OPEN   |
-| Memory Leak             | Decrypted Media Memory Leak (Gallery & Lightbox) due to missing virtualization and blob revocation.                                                      | `cinny/src/app/features/room/MediaGallery.tsx`  | OPEN   |
+| Memory Leak             | Decrypted Media Memory Leak (Gallery & Lightbox) due to missing virtualization and blob revocation.                                                      | `cinny/src/app/features/room/MediaGallery.tsx`  | PARTIALLY FIXED ⚠️ UNTESTED — Blob revocation was already correct; added `enabled` param to `useDecryptedMediaUrl` and `useNearViewport(300px)` to each `GalleryTile` to gate decryption until near-viewport, reducing burst on pagination. True virtualization (windowing) deferred — requires significant refactor. |
 | Data Persistence        | Scheduled Messages are ephemeral (lost on refresh) due to fragile `localStorage` parsing.                                                                | `cinny/src/app/state/scheduledMessages.ts`      | FIXED — now uses `atomWithStorage` + `createJSONStorage` (Jotai's built-in persistence with error-safe JSON parsing) |
 | Memory Leak             | Potential memory leak due to uncleaned `handleMouseMove` listener in `usePan`.                                                                           | `cinny/src/app/hooks/usePan.ts`                 | FALSE POSITIVE — `usePan` already uses `attachedRef` to track listeners and cleans them up in an unmount `useEffect`. No change needed. |
 | Asset Optimization      | Large unoptimized media asset (213KB) found in `public/res`.                                                                                             | `public/res/Lotus.png`                          | OPEN   |
diff --git a/src/app/features/room/MediaGallery.tsx b/src/app/features/room/MediaGallery.tsx
index 71ab8182f..a7d299988 100644
--- a/src/app/features/room/MediaGallery.tsx
+++ b/src/app/features/room/MediaGallery.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import React, { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
+import { useNearViewport } from '../../hooks/useNearViewport';
 import {
   Box,
   Button,
@@ -45,11 +46,13 @@ function useDecryptedMediaUrl(
   encInfo: IEncryptedFile | undefined,
   useAuthentication: boolean,
   mimeType?: string,
+  enabled = true,
 ): DecryptState {
   const [state, setState] = useState<DecryptState>({ status: 'loading' });
   const prevBlobUrl = useRef<string | null>(null);
 
   useEffect(() => {
+    if (!enabled) return undefined;
     if (!mxcUrl) {
       setState({ status: 'error' });
       return;
@@ -84,7 +87,7 @@ function useDecryptedMediaUrl(
     return () => {
       cancelled = true;
     };
-  }, [mx, mxcUrl, encInfo, useAuthentication, mimeType]);
+  }, [mx, mxcUrl, encInfo, useAuthentication, mimeType, enabled]);
 
   useEffect(
     () => () => {
@@ -367,12 +370,15 @@ function GalleryTile({
   onClick: () => void;
 }) {
   const mx = useMatrixClient();
-  const media = useDecryptedMediaUrl(mx, mxcUrl, encInfo, useAuthentication, mimeType);
+  const tileRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement>(null);
+  const nearViewport = useNearViewport(tileRef, 300);
+  const media = useDecryptedMediaUrl(mx, mxcUrl, encInfo, useAuthentication, mimeType, nearViewport);
   const [hovered, setHovered] = useState(false);
   const relDate = formatRelativeDate(ts);
 
   return (
     <button
+      ref={tileRef}
       type="button"
       aria-label={body || (isVideo ? 'Video' : 'Image')}
       onClick={onClick}