diff --git a/HANDOFF.md b/HANDOFF.md
index 5a3ce0f..a042e32 100644
--- a/HANDOFF.md
+++ b/HANDOFF.md
@@ -193,6 +193,15 @@ zombie (now an occasional opponent, `TUNE.racketEvery`, not the every-game fixtu
   perspective floor reaches the bottom on any aspect ratio. If you ever add a new orientation or
   stretch the canvas further, check the bottom rows are opaque — sample `getImageData` alpha, the
   colour alone will not tell you, because the page behind is deliberately the same green.
+  **Do NOT try to cover the bottom by extending the out-area quad instead.** `proj()` divides by
+  `(camZ - z)`, so as z approaches `TUNE.camZ` (48) the scale explodes and past it goes NEGATIVE —
+  a quad taken to z=60 folded its far edge back above the screen as an inverted triangle. The clear
+  is what covers the screen; the quad only has to cover the court.
+- **The page gradient goes on `document.documentElement`, and `html` needs a real height.** Two
+  separate CSS traps, both hit: the ROOT element's background is what paints the viewport, so setting
+  it on `body` while `html` also has a background painted nothing; and a GRADIENT is laid out in the
+  root's own box, which collapses to zero when the canvas is `position: fixed`, so `html { height:
+  100dvh }` is load-bearing rather than cosmetic.
 - **The page background behind the canvas tracks the live court apron** (`pageBackground` in
   render.js). It is visible in exactly two places: the strip above the canvas under the status bar,
   and the slivers a phone's ROUNDED DISPLAY CORNERS clip out of the canvas — a flat dark body drew a
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index c2ea8e5..5b407de 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@
                src: url('assets/fonts/Silkscreen-Regular.ttf') format('truetype'); }
   @font-face { font-family: 'Silkscreen'; font-weight: 700; font-display: block;
                src: url('assets/fonts/Silkscreen-Bold.ttf') format('truetype'); }
+  /* html needs a real HEIGHT: the root element's background paints the viewport, but a GRADIENT is
+     laid out in the root's own box — and with the canvas position:fixed the root has no content and
+     collapses, so the gradient render.js sets had nowhere to go. */
+  html { height: 100%; height: 100dvh; }
   html, body { margin: 0; padding: 0; background: #10141c; overflow: hidden; }
   /* invisible probe: env() is only readable from CSS, so park the insets on an element and let
      render.js measure them. The canvas stays FULL-BLEED (the stands under the notch look good) —
@@ -40,6 +44,7 @@
            top: env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px);
            left: env(safe-area-inset-left, 0px);
            width: calc(100vw - env(safe-area-inset-left, 0px) - env(safe-area-inset-right, 0px));
+           height: calc(100vh - env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px));
            height: calc(100dvh - env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px)); }
   #hint { position: fixed; bottom: 8px; width: 100%; text-align: center;
           font: 400 10px Silkscreen, monospace; color: #6b7688; }
@@ -80,6 +85,6 @@
     <p class="start">TAP TO START</p>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="main.js?v=49"></script>
+<script type="module" src="main.js?v=50"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/render.js b/render.js
index 4f4f50e..8508268 100644
--- a/render.js
+++ b/render.js
@@ -71,7 +71,11 @@ function pageBackground(out) {
   const t = SAFE.topCss;
   const css = `linear-gradient(#10141c 0px, #10141c ${t}px, ${out} ${t}px, ${out} 100%)`;
   if (css === bgLast) return;                 // only touch the DOM when it actually changed
-  bgLast = css; document.body.style.background = css;
+  bgLast = css;
+  // documentElement, NOT body: the ROOT element's background is what paints the viewport canvas.
+  // index.html gives html a background, so body's never propagates — setting it there painted only
+  // body's own box, which has no height (the canvas is position: fixed) and so painted nothing.
+  document.documentElement.style.background = css;
 }
 
 export function fitViewport() { // landscape 480x270; portrait 270 wide and as TALL as the phone is
@@ -129,7 +133,7 @@ export function proj(x, y, z) {
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------- sprites ----
 // assets/<name>.png; game falls back to code-drawn figures until sprites load.
-const SPRV = 49; // asset cache-buster — bump with main.js?v=N (see the img.src note below)
+const SPRV = 50; // asset cache-buster — bump with main.js?v=N (see the img.src note below)
 const SPR = {};
 for (const n of ['p_idle1','p_idle2','p_bounce','p_bounce2','p_toss','p_smash','p_run1','p_run2','p_swing1','p_swing2',
                  'o_idle1','o_idle2','o_bounce','o_bounce2','o_toss','o_smash','o_run1','o_run2','o_swing1','o_swing2',
@@ -662,7 +666,10 @@ export function render() {
 
   // ground + court (Super Tennis lawn); everything outside the doubles court is OUT
   const dw = COURT.dblW / 2;
-  quadXZ(-14, -6, 14, 60, pal.out);                                // out area (past the bottom on any aspect)
+  quadXZ(-14, -6, 14, 30, pal.out);                                // out area. NEVER let z approach
+  // TUNE.camZ (48): proj() divides by (camZ - z), so at z >= camZ the scale blows up and then goes
+  // NEGATIVE, and the quad's far edge folds back above the screen as an inverted triangle. The
+  // full-frame clear above is what covers the bottom of the screen; this quad does not need to.
   quadXZ(-dw - 0.15, -0.15, dw + 0.15, COURT.L + 0.15, '#e8e8dc'); // perimeter border line
   quadXZ(-dw, 0, dw, COURT.L, pal.lawn);                           // lawn (doubles court)
   for (let z = 0; z < COURT.L; z += 2.97) quadXZ(-dw, z, dw, Math.min(z + 1.49, COURT.L), pal.stripe); // mow stripes