diff --git a/apps/control-station/src/components/FloatingObservationWindow.tsx b/apps/control-station/src/components/FloatingObservationWindow.tsx
index 1db8273..4db59a0 100644
--- a/apps/control-station/src/components/FloatingObservationWindow.tsx
+++ b/apps/control-station/src/components/FloatingObservationWindow.tsx
@@ -123,9 +123,12 @@ export function FloatingObservationWindow({
     return () => observer.disconnect();
   }, [boundsRef]);
 
-  const initialRect = bounds ? initialObservationWindowRect(index, count, bounds) : null;
+  // Camera media admission must not wait for the viewport observer. A source
+  // can arrive in the same commit as a workspace transition; mounting it with
+  // the canonical fallback geometry keeps the browser transport alive until
+  // the real bounds are measured immediately afterward.
+  const initialRect = initialObservationWindowRect(index, count, bounds ?? undefined);
   const windowRect = rect ?? initialRect;
-  if (!windowRect) return null;
 
   return (
     <WorkspaceWindow
diff --git a/apps/control-station/test/observationSources.test.mjs b/apps/control-station/test/observationSources.test.mjs
index 243e80a..f06bf2b 100644
--- a/apps/control-station/test/observationSources.test.mjs
+++ b/apps/control-station/test/observationSources.test.mjs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ let cameraTransportCallbackIsCurrent;
 let cameraBrowserTransportIdentity;
 let liveRerunRecoveryAuthorityIdentity;
 let initialObservationWindowRect;
+let FloatingObservationWindow;
 let ObservationTimeline;
 let shouldCaptureWorkspacePointer;
 let normalizeTimelineRange;
@@ -86,9 +87,11 @@ before(async () => {
   } = await server.ssrLoadModule(
     "/src/core/observation/liveCameraRecovery.ts",
   ));
-  ({ initialObservationWindowRect, shouldCaptureWorkspacePointer } = await server.ssrLoadModule(
-    "/src/components/FloatingObservationWindow.tsx",
-  ));
+  ({
+    FloatingObservationWindow,
+    initialObservationWindowRect,
+    shouldCaptureWorkspacePointer,
+  } = await server.ssrLoadModule("/src/components/FloatingObservationWindow.tsx"));
   ({ liveRerunRecoveryAuthorityIdentity } = await server.ssrLoadModule(
     "/src/core/observation/liveReceiverWatchdog.ts",
   ));
@@ -133,6 +136,59 @@ test("observation camera windows tile from the bottom-right above the live timel
   assert.ok(right.y + right.height <= bounds.height - 64);
 });
 
+test("live camera window keeps its player mounted before viewport measurement", () => {
+  const source = {
+    id: "k1:sensor.camera.right",
+    sourceId: "sensor.camera.right",
+    label: "Правая камера",
+    description: "Live camera",
+    modality: "video",
+    availability: "streaming",
+    transport: "websocket",
+    endpointLabel: "Локальный видеопоток",
+    previewUrl: null,
+    delivery: {
+      id: "camera-preview-4",
+      kind: "mse-fmp4-websocket",
+      url: "/camera-preview/4",
+      mediaType: 'video/mp4; codecs="avc1.641028"',
+    },
+    activation: {
+      groupId: "k1:device-session:camera.preview.decoder",
+      maxActive: 1,
+      selected: true,
+      controllable: false,
+    },
+    binding: {
+      deviceId: "k1-a",
+      deviceSessionId: "device-session",
+      acquisitionId: "acquisition-quick",
+    },
+    capabilities: {
+      defaultVisible: true,
+      overlay: true,
+      resizable: true,
+      timelineMode: "live-only",
+    },
+  };
+  const noop = () => undefined;
+  const markup = renderToStaticMarkup(createElement(FloatingObservationWindow, {
+    source,
+    index: 0,
+    count: 1,
+    boundsRef: { current: null },
+    maximized: false,
+    active: true,
+    onRectChange: noop,
+    onMaximizedChange: noop,
+    onActivate: noop,
+    onClose: noop,
+  }));
+
+  assert.match(markup, /<video/);
+  assert.match(markup, /Правая камера/);
+});
+
 test("observation camera windows stack without overlap when the viewport is narrow", () => {
   const bounds = { width: 420, height: 700 };
   const lower = initialObservationWindowRect(0, 2, bounds);