diff --git a/HANDOFF.md b/HANDOFF.md
index c8ea542..e9f39e4 100644
--- a/HANDOFF.md
+++ b/HANDOFF.md
@@ -442,6 +442,22 @@ the countdown panel ('CHANGEOVER · RESUMING IN n'). He kept the burst-arm weapo
 praise words. **A bottom/above-rack message slot was proposed and REJECTED**: that is thumb
 territory — covered by the hand mid-pull and outside where the eyes are.
 
+**Fifth batch, same day — THE BATTERY PASS.** "Drains battery like there is no tomorrow." Measured
+first: update() 0.01 ms, render() 0.15 ms per frame — the JS is nothing. The bill is fill-rate ×
+frame-rate (a 3x iPhone pushes a ~1080×2400 canvas through the compositor 60×/s) plus 60 Hz wakeups
+on static screens. Three levers shipped:
+- **The canvas is OPAQUE now** (`dom.js`: `getContext('2d', {alpha:false, desynchronized:true})`)
+  — render() clears the whole frame to a solid colour anyway, so the compositor no longer alpha-
+  blends 2.5 Mpx sixty times a second. Free.
+- **Calm states run slow** (`calmFps()` in main.js): a SETTLED modal (world frozen, only the blink
+  moves) runs at 20 fps, the death summary once faded at 24. Live play stays at TUNE.fps — the 60
+  was a feel decision and the governor deliberately never touches anything that moves.
+- **`TUNE.lowPower`** (>= 0.5, T-panel-flippable live): caps RES at 3 — −44% of pixels painted per
+  frame, THE big lever. `RES` is `export let` now, re-derived in fitViewport; main.js re-fits when
+  the knob flips. Sprites are 224px sources so RES 3 draws them at-or-below 1:1: softer, never
+  mushy. OFF by default — whether the sharpness trade is worth it is Oliver's phone-call, and if he
+  wants it player-facing it should become a settings toggle, not a TUNE knob.
+
 **Fourth batch, same day — the card went HORIZONTAL, and nothing draws under a modal.** The
 stacked icon card ran 102 px tall and its lower third hung over live court; the icon sits LEFT of
 the text now (boxed to 58×52 so a wide tin cannot reach the type — and it draws BIGGER than the
diff --git a/config.js b/config.js
index 7d6e976..98c882e 100644
--- a/config.js
+++ b/config.js
@@ -312,6 +312,9 @@ export const TUNE = {
   barrelHp: 1,      // anything pops it: ball, pellet, bomb, flame, swish. It is a target, not a body
   barrelH: 1.15,    // drawn height (a body is 1.8)
   fps: 60,          // frame cap — 30 halves battery/heat but Oliver felt it; smoothness wins (0 = uncapped)
+  lowPower: 0,      // >= 0.5 caps RES at 3 (−44% of pixels painted per frame) — the battery-saver
+                    // switch, flippable live from the T panel. Play speed and fps are untouched:
+                    // the trade is sharpness only, and 224px sprites keep it "softer", never mushy.
   runnerSpeed: 3.2, // runner ('f') speed multiplier over the shamble
   runnerVMax: 4.2,  // hard runner speed cap — the late-game ramp must stay humanly reactable
   shamblerHp: 2,    // splat-quality hits a classic shambler ('a'/'b') soaks before it dies — only the runner ('f') is still one-shot glass
diff --git a/dom.js b/dom.js
index 07b5bf9..8cc4bbb 100644
--- a/dom.js
+++ b/dom.js
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 // Canvas handles — imported by everyone, imports nothing (keeps module cycles harmless).
 export const cv = document.getElementById('c');
-export const ctx = cv.getContext('2d');
+// alpha:false — render() clears the whole frame to an opaque colour anyway, so declaring the canvas
+// opaque lets the compositor skip blending a 2.5-megapixel layer 60 times a second (battery, not
+// looks). desynchronized is a further no-op-where-unsupported compositor shortcut (Chrome).
+export const ctx = cv.getContext('2d', { alpha: false, desynchronized: true });
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 388343c..1aca1cf 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -359,6 +359,6 @@
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="main.js?v=132"></script>
+<script type="module" src="main.js?v=133"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/main.js b/main.js
index 0d49d39..9a51458 100644
--- a/main.js
+++ b/main.js
@@ -18,9 +18,19 @@ let last = performance.now();
 // next frame without the scene moving on underneath you. Halting rAF instead (the old test recipe)
 // freezes the picture too, which is useless for looking at a shot.
 let paused = false;
+// CALM STATES RUN SLOW. The battery bill is fill-rate × frame-rate, and two screens can sit on a
+// phone for minutes while fully static: a SETTLED modal (the world is frozen behind it — only the
+// blink still moves) and the death summary once its fade and gore have played out. 20-odd fps
+// there is invisible and thirds the drain; live play stays at TUNE.fps, untouched — the 60 was a
+// feel decision and this deliberately never applies to anything that moves.
+const calmFps = () => G.modal && G.modal.in >= 1 ? 20
+  : G.mode === 'eaten' && G.eatenT > EATEN_RESTART + 1 ? 24 : 0;
+let lowPowerApplied = false; // the last lowPower state fitViewport was run under (T-panel flips it live)
 function frame(now) {
   requestAnimationFrame(frame); // schedule FIRST: one bad frame must never kill the loop (a thrown error froze the game for good)
-  if (TUNE.fps && now - last < 1000 / TUNE.fps - 2) return; // frame cap (battery): skip RAF ticks until it's our beat
+  if ((TUNE.lowPower >= 0.5) !== lowPowerApplied) { lowPowerApplied = TUNE.lowPower >= 0.5; fitViewport(); }
+  const cap = calmFps() || TUNE.fps;
+  if (cap && now - last < 1000 / cap - 2) return; // frame cap (battery): skip RAF ticks until it's our beat
   // THE MENU IS OPAQUE (#intro: fixed, inset 0, solid background). Painting the whole court at RES
   // density behind it — for the minutes a phone idles on the splash and stats screens — was pure
   // battery burn nobody could see. The world holds still too; nothing on it predates the menu.
diff --git a/render.js b/render.js
index bc0dd78..4c6b3dd 100644
--- a/render.js
+++ b/render.js
@@ -58,7 +58,10 @@ const IS_TOUCH = matchMedia('(pointer: coarse)').matches; // hoisted: a matchMed
 // nearly double the pixels it can show, on exactly the hardware least able to afford it. The same
 // near-1:1 logic per tier: dpr 3 -> 4, dpr 2 -> 3, dpr 1 -> 2.
 // THIS IS THE FIRST KNOB TO TURN DOWN if the phone ever stutters: it is the whole fill-rate budget.
-export const RES = Math.max(2, Math.min(4, Math.ceil((devicePixelRatio || 3) * 1.35)));
+// `let`, not const: TUNE.lowPower caps it at 3 live (fitViewport re-reads on every fit) — importers
+// see the change through the module binding.
+const RES_AUTO = Math.max(2, Math.min(4, Math.ceil((devicePixelRatio || 3) * 1.35)));
+export let RES = RES_AUTO;
 export let W = 480, H = 270;
 
 // Split responsibility, and the split is deliberate:
@@ -111,6 +114,10 @@ function fitBox() {
 
 export function fitViewport() { // landscape 480x270; portrait 270 wide and as TALL as the phone is
   fitBox();
+  // battery saver: RES 4 -> 3 is −44% of pixels painted per frame, by far the biggest lever there
+  // is. Sprites are 224px sources, so at 3 they still draw at-or-below 1:1 — softer than 4, never
+  // mushy. main.js re-calls fitViewport when the panel flips the knob.
+  RES = TUNE.lowPower >= 0.5 ? Math.min(3, RES_AUTO) : RES_AUTO;
   const portrait = (cv.clientHeight || innerHeight) > (cv.clientWidth || innerWidth);
   // Portrait height ADAPTS to the device. A fixed 270x480 is 9:16, but a modern iPhone is taller
   // (~390x844 = 0.46), so width bound the fit and ~150 CSS px of screen went unused at the bottom.