diff --git a/frontend.html b/frontend.html
index 9d2b1d1..a2a0e7d 100644
--- a/frontend.html
+++ b/frontend.html
@@ -14,16 +14,14 @@
             overflow: hidden;
             zoom: 1;   
         }
-        #img {
+        .media {
             max-width: 100%;
             max-height: 100%;
             width: 100%;
             height: 100%;
             cursor: pointer;
-            background-image: url($img_url);
-            background-size: contain; /* Important for proper scaling */
-            background-position: center;
-            background-repeat: no-repeat;
+            object-fit: contain;
+            display: block;
         }
         .chevron {
             position: absolute;
@@ -75,7 +73,7 @@
             text-wrap-mode: nowrap;
         }
         #sidebar a:hover {
-            background: #3a3a3a;
+            background: #3a3a3a; 
             color: #fff;
         }
         .breadcrumb {
@@ -131,7 +129,7 @@
     </div>
     <a id="sidebar-toggle" href="#" title="Toggle index (i)">☰</a>
     <div id="container" class="$container_class">
-        <a href="$image_click_url"><div id="img" title="$filename" data-hash="$file_hash" data-path="$file_path"></div></a>
+        <a href="$image_click_url">$media_element</a>
         <a href="$prev_url" class="chevron left" id="prev-btn">&#8249;</a>
         <a href="$next_url" class="chevron right" id="next-btn">&#8250;</a>
         $play_button
diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index 69516fc..d5109db 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -413,10 +413,27 @@ def _render_page(
         )
         sidebar_class = ""
 
+    # Build the media element based on file type
+    img_url = "{root_path}/api/{file_hash}/data".format(
+        root_path=root_path, file_hash=navigation_data["file_hash"]
+    )
+    content_type, _ = mimetypes.guess_type(file_path or "")
+    data_attrs = f'data-hash="{navigation_data["file_hash"]}"'
+    if navigate_enabled:
+        data_attrs += f' data-path="{file_path}"'
+    if content_type and content_type.startswith("video"):
+        media_element = (
+            f'<video class="media" src="{img_url}" controls autoplay '
+            f'loop muted playsinline {data_attrs}></video>'
+        )
+    else:
+        media_element = (
+            f'<img class="media" src="{img_url}" '
+            f'alt="{navigation_data["filename"]}" {data_attrs}>'
+        )
+
     content = template.substitute(
-        img_url="{root_path}/api/{file_hash}/data".format(
-            root_path=root_path, file_hash=navigation_data["file_hash"]
-        ),
+        media_element=media_element,
         image_click_url=image_click_url or _get_random_hash(),
         next_url=next_url,
         prev_url=prev_url,
@@ -809,7 +826,7 @@ def _render_folder_index_page(
     )
 
     content = template.substitute(
-        img_url="#",
+        media_element="",
         image_click_url="#",
         next_url="#",
         prev_url="#",
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index cb7a6c1..bcbd2ac 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ def sample_files(tmp_path: Path) -> dict[str, Path]:
     files["image_file"] = tmp_path / "photo.jpg"
     files["image_file"].write_bytes(b"\xff\xd8\xff\xe0fake_jpeg_data")
 
+    files["video_file"] = tmp_path / "clip.mp4"
+    files["video_file"].write_bytes(b"\x00\x00\x00\x1cftypfake_mp4_data")
+
     return files
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_file_indexer.py b/tests/test_file_indexer.py
index 2f7f810..bd7c0a4 100644
--- a/tests/test_file_indexer.py
+++ b/tests/test_file_indexer.py
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ class TestIndex:
         """All files in the directory tree are indexed."""
         indexer = FileIndexer(str(sample_files["root_file"].parent), salt="test")
         assert (
-            len(indexer._file_mapping) == 4
-        )  # root.txt, nested.txt, data.bin, photo.jpg
+            len(indexer._file_mapping) == 5
+        )  # root.txt, nested.txt, data.bin, photo.jpg, clip.mp4
 
     def test_hash_maps_to_correct_path(self, sample_files: dict[str, Path]) -> None:
         """Each hash maps to the correct file path."""
diff --git a/tests/test_media_elements.py b/tests/test_media_elements.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c21242
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_media_elements.py
@@ -0,0 +1,219 @@
+"""Tests for media element rendering (images vs videos)."""
+
+from httpx import AsyncClient
+
+import main
+
+
+class TestMediaElementRendering:
+    """Tests for GET /{file_hash} media element selection."""
+
+    async def test_image_file_renders_img_tag(self, client_dir: AsyncClient) -> None:
+        """Image files should render an <img> element."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".jpg"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/{file_hash}")
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert "<img" in response.text
+        assert '<img class="media"' in response.text
+        assert f'src="/api/{file_hash}/data"' in response.text
+
+    async def test_video_file_renders_video_tag(self, client_dir: AsyncClient) -> None:
+        """Video files should render a <video> element."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".mp4"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/{file_hash}")
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert "<video" in response.text
+        assert '<video class="media"' in response.text
+        assert f'src="/api/{file_hash}/data"' in response.text
+
+    async def test_video_tag_has_controls(self, client_dir: AsyncClient) -> None:
+        """Video element should have controls attribute."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".mp4"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/{file_hash}")
+        assert "controls" in response.text
+
+    async def test_video_tag_has_autoplay(self, client_dir: AsyncClient) -> None:
+        """Video element should have autoplay attribute."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".mp4"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/{file_hash}")
+        assert "autoplay" in response.text
+
+    async def test_video_tag_has_loop(self, client_dir: AsyncClient) -> None:
+        """Video element should have loop attribute."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".mp4"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/{file_hash}")
+        assert "loop" in response.text
+
+    async def test_video_tag_has_muted(self, client_dir: AsyncClient) -> None:
+        """Video element should have muted attribute (required for autoplay)."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".mp4"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/{file_hash}")
+        assert "muted" in response.text
+
+    async def test_video_tag_has_playsinline(self, client_dir: AsyncClient) -> None:
+        """Video element should have playsinline attribute."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".mp4"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/{file_hash}")
+        assert "playsinline" in response.text
+
+    async def test_image_tag_has_no_video_attributes(
+        self, client_dir: AsyncClient
+    ) -> None:
+        """Image element should not have video-specific attributes."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".jpg"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/{file_hash}")
+        assert "<video" not in response.text
+
+    async def test_media_has_data_hash_attribute(self, client_dir: AsyncClient) -> None:
+        """Media element should have data-hash attribute."""
+        file_hash = list(main.file_mapping.keys())[0]
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/{file_hash}")
+        assert f'data-hash="{file_hash}"' in response.text
+
+    async def test_text_file_renders_img_tag(self, client_dir: AsyncClient) -> None:
+        """Non-image, non-video files should render as <img> (default)."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".txt"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/{file_hash}")
+        assert "<img" in response.text
+        assert "<video" not in response.text
+
+
+class TestVideoDataEndpoint:
+    """Tests for GET /api/{file_hash}/data with video files."""
+
+    async def test_video_data_returns_correct_content_type(
+        self, client_dir: AsyncClient
+    ) -> None:
+        """Video data endpoint returns video/mp4 content type."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".mp4"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/api/{file_hash}/data")
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert "video/mp4" in response.headers["content-type"]
+
+    async def test_video_data_returns_file_content(
+        self, client_dir: AsyncClient
+    ) -> None:
+        """Video data endpoint returns the actual file bytes."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".mp4"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/api/{file_hash}/data")
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert len(response.content) > 0
+
+    async def test_video_data_has_inline_disposition(
+        self, client_dir: AsyncClient
+    ) -> None:
+        """Video data endpoint includes inline Content-Disposition."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".mp4"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(f"/api/{file_hash}/data")
+        assert "inline" in response.headers["content-disposition"]
+
+
+class TestMediaElementWithRefresh:
+    """Tests for media element rendering in auto-refresh mode."""
+
+    async def test_video_in_refresh_mode(
+        self, client_dir: AsyncClient
+    ) -> None:
+        """Video element renders correctly in auto-refresh mode."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".mp4"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(
+            f"/{file_hash}", params={"order": "next", "delay": 5}
+        )
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert "<video" in response.text
+        assert '<video class="media"' in response.text
+        assert 'http-equiv="refresh"' in response.text
+
+    async def test_image_in_refresh_mode(self, client_dir: AsyncClient) -> None:
+        """Image element renders correctly in auto-refresh mode."""
+        file_hash = None
+        for h, path in main.file_mapping.items():
+            if path.endswith(".jpg"):
+                file_hash = h
+                break
+
+        assert file_hash is not None
+        response = await client_dir.get(
+            f"/{file_hash}", params={"order": "next", "delay": 5}
+        )
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert "<img" in response.text
+        assert '<img class="media"' in response.text