diff --git a/src/display_manager.py b/src/display_manager.py
index 43a53d98..7ad48550 100644
--- a/src/display_manager.py
+++ b/src/display_manager.py
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ class DisplayManager:
         start_time = time.time()
         self.config = config or {}
         self._force_fallback = force_fallback
+        # Snapshot settings for web preview integration (service writes, web reads)
+        self._snapshot_path = "/tmp/led_matrix_preview.png"
+        self._snapshot_min_interval_sec = 0.2  # max ~5 fps
+        self._last_snapshot_ts = 0.0
         self._setup_matrix()
         logger.info("Matrix setup completed in %.3f seconds", time.time() - start_time)
         
@@ -186,6 +190,8 @@ class DisplayManager:
             if self.matrix is None:
                 # Fallback mode - no actual hardware to update
                 logger.debug("Update display called in fallback mode (no hardware)")
+                # Still write a snapshot so the web UI can preview
+                self._write_snapshot_if_due()
                 return
                 
             # Copy the current image to the offscreen canvas   
@@ -196,6 +202,9 @@ class DisplayManager:
             
             # Swap our canvas references
             self.offscreen_canvas, self.current_canvas = self.current_canvas, self.offscreen_canvas
+
+            # Write a snapshot for the web preview (throttled)
+            self._write_snapshot_if_due()
         except Exception as e:
             logger.error(f"Error updating display: {e}")
 
@@ -615,4 +624,21 @@ class DisplayManager:
         else:
             suffix = {1: 'st', 2: 'nd', 3: 'rd'}.get(day % 10, 'th')
         
-        return dt.strftime(f"%b %-d{suffix}") 
\ No newline at end of file
+        return dt.strftime(f"%b %-d{suffix}") 
+
+    def _write_snapshot_if_due(self) -> None:
+        """Write the current image to a PNG snapshot file at a limited frequency."""
+        try:
+            now = time.time()
+            if (now - self._last_snapshot_ts) < self._snapshot_min_interval_sec:
+                return
+            # Ensure directory exists
+            snapshot_dir = os.path.dirname(self._snapshot_path)
+            if snapshot_dir and not os.path.exists(snapshot_dir):
+                os.makedirs(snapshot_dir, exist_ok=True)
+            # Write PNG snapshot
+            self.image.save(self._snapshot_path, format='PNG')
+            self._last_snapshot_ts = now
+        except Exception as e:
+            # Snapshot failures should never break display; log at debug to avoid noise
+            logger.debug(f"Snapshot write skipped: {e}")
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/web_interface_v2.py b/web_interface_v2.py
index 08ebb2e9..f4f7b0b2 100644
--- a/web_interface_v2.py
+++ b/web_interface_v2.py
@@ -57,32 +57,45 @@ class DisplayMonitor:
 
     def _monitor_loop(self):
         global display_manager, current_display_data
+        snapshot_path = "/tmp/led_matrix_preview.png"
         while self.running:
             try:
-                if display_manager and hasattr(display_manager, 'image'):
-                    # Convert raw image to base64 (no server-side scaling; client scales visually)
+                # Prefer service-provided snapshot if available (works when ledmatrix service is running)
+                if os.path.exists(snapshot_path):
+                    with open(snapshot_path, 'rb') as f:
+                        img_bytes = f.read()
+                    img_str = base64.b64encode(img_bytes).decode()
+                    # If we can infer dimensions from display_manager, include them; else leave 0
+                    width = display_manager.width if display_manager else 0
+                    height = display_manager.height if display_manager else 0
+                    current_display_data = {
+                        'image': img_str,
+                        'width': width,
+                        'height': height,
+                        'timestamp': time.time()
+                    }
+                    socketio.emit('display_update', current_display_data)
+                elif display_manager and hasattr(display_manager, 'image'):
+                    # Fallback to in-process manager image
                     img_buffer = io.BytesIO()
                     display_manager.image.save(img_buffer, format='PNG')
                     img_str = base64.b64encode(img_buffer.getvalue()).decode()
-
                     current_display_data = {
                         'image': img_str,
                         'width': display_manager.width,
                         'height': display_manager.height,
                         'timestamp': time.time()
                     }
-
-                    # Emit to all connected clients
                     socketio.emit('display_update', current_display_data)
 
             except Exception as e:
                 logger.error(f"Display monitor error: {e}", exc_info=True)
 
-            # Yield to the async loop; target ~10 FPS to reduce load
+            # Yield to the async loop; target ~5-10 FPS
             try:
-                socketio.sleep(0.1)
+                socketio.sleep(0.2)
             except Exception:
-                time.sleep(0.1)
+                time.sleep(0.2)
 
 display_monitor = DisplayMonitor()