diff --git a/backend/app/routers/photos.py b/backend/app/routers/photos.py
index 99aafe6..8320370 100644
--- a/backend/app/routers/photos.py
+++ b/backend/app/routers/photos.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Photos API router
 from typing import List, Optional, Dict, Any
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from pathlib import Path
-from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, Query, Response
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, Query, Request, Response
 from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, StreamingResponse
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 from sqlalchemy import select, and_, or_, func, tuple_
@@ -774,33 +774,112 @@ async def get_thumbnail(
         # Direct file serving for development
         return FileResponse(thumb_path, media_type='image/webp')
 
+_INLINE_MEDIA_TYPES = {
+    '.jpg': 'image/jpeg', '.jpeg': 'image/jpeg',
+    '.png': 'image/png', '.webp': 'image/webp', '.gif': 'image/gif',
+    '.mp4': 'video/mp4', '.mov': 'video/quicktime',
+    '.webm': 'video/webm', '.mkv': 'video/x-matroska',
+    '.m4v': 'video/mp4',
+}
+
+# How big each chunk we yield is when streaming a Range response. 1 MB
+# strikes a balance between syscall count and memory residency.
+_RANGE_CHUNK = 1024 * 1024
+
+
+def _parse_range(header: str, size: int) -> Optional[tuple[int, int]]:
+    """Parse a single-range `Range: bytes=START-END` header.
+
+    Returns (start, end) inclusive on success, or None when the header
+    is malformed / multi-range (we don't bother with multipart). The
+    caller falls back to a 200 response in that case.
+    """
+    if not header or not header.startswith("bytes="):
+        return None
+    spec = header[len("bytes="):]
+    if "," in spec:  # multi-range; punt
+        return None
+    if "-" not in spec:
+        return None
+    start_s, end_s = spec.split("-", 1)
+    try:
+        if start_s == "":
+            # bytes=-N → last N bytes
+            n = int(end_s)
+            if n <= 0:
+                return None
+            start = max(0, size - n)
+            end = size - 1
+        else:
+            start = int(start_s)
+            end = int(end_s) if end_s else size - 1
+    except ValueError:
+        return None
+    if start < 0 or start >= size or end < start:
+        return None
+    end = min(end, size - 1)
+    return start, end
+
+
 @router.get("/{photo_id}/original")
 async def get_original(
     photo_id: str,
+    request: Request,
     db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db),
     current_user: User = Depends(get_current_user_media),
 ):
-    """Serve original file (download for RAW, inline for web-safe formats)"""
+    """Serve the original file inline (web-safe formats) with HTTP Range
+    support so `<video>` can seek and stream.
+
+    Browsers refuse to play long `<video>` they can't seek — without
+    Accept-Ranges + 206 they surface the failure as "format not
+    supported" even when the codec itself is fine.
+    """
     photo = await _get_photo_with_share_fallback(photo_id, current_user, db)
 
     if not os.path.exists(photo.filepath):
         raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="File not found")
 
-    # Pick a media type the browser can render inline for web-safe formats
-    # so the loupe view and <video> tags work without forcing a download.
     ext = Path(photo.filepath).suffix.lower()
-    inline_types = {
-        '.jpg': 'image/jpeg', '.jpeg': 'image/jpeg',
-        '.png': 'image/png', '.webp': 'image/webp', '.gif': 'image/gif',
-        '.mp4': 'video/mp4', '.mov': 'video/quicktime',
-        '.webm': 'video/webm', '.mkv': 'video/x-matroska',
-    }
-    media_type = inline_types.get(ext, 'application/octet-stream')
+    media_type = _INLINE_MEDIA_TYPES.get(ext, 'application/octet-stream')
+    file_size = os.path.getsize(photo.filepath)
 
-    return FileResponse(
-        photo.filepath,
-        filename=photo.filename if media_type == 'application/octet-stream' else None,
+    range_header = request.headers.get("range")
+    parsed = _parse_range(range_header, file_size) if range_header else None
+
+    if parsed is None:
+        # No Range header or malformed: full body, but advertise
+        # Accept-Ranges so the browser knows it can ask for one next.
+        return FileResponse(
+            photo.filepath,
+            filename=photo.filename if media_type == 'application/octet-stream' else None,
+            media_type=media_type,
+            headers={"Accept-Ranges": "bytes"},
+        )
+
+    start, end = parsed
+    length = end - start + 1
+
+    def _iter_range():
+        with open(photo.filepath, 'rb') as f:
+            f.seek(start)
+            remaining = length
+            while remaining > 0:
+                chunk = f.read(min(_RANGE_CHUNK, remaining))
+                if not chunk:
+                    break
+                remaining -= len(chunk)
+                yield chunk
+
+    return StreamingResponse(
+        _iter_range(),
+        status_code=206,
         media_type=media_type,
+        headers={
+            "Content-Range": f"bytes {start}-{end}/{file_size}",
+            "Content-Length": str(length),
+            "Accept-Ranges": "bytes",
+        },
     )