diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5a828b38..9d6e3c06 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -266,6 +266,12 @@ floor on the release that ships them):
   stall watchdog logs the stack of whatever holds a scroll up for 250 ms or
   more. See `docs/SCROLL_PERFORMANCE.md`, "Soaking a rig".
 
+- `display.scan_order_compensation` (`"auto"` by default): while something
+  scrolls at one pixel per refresh, one half of each panel is shown a refresh
+  behind the other, which removes the 1px step a 1:N-scan panel shows across
+  its middle. Only for layouts whose row order is known; `"off"` disables it.
+  See `docs/SCROLL_PERFORMANCE.md`, "A tear across the middle on fast scrolls".
+
 ## 3.5.0
 
 New modules a plugin may import via `src.*` (floor on 3.5.0):
diff --git a/docs/CONFIG_REFERENCE.md b/docs/CONFIG_REFERENCE.md
index 6e2bf936..92067cb2 100644
--- a/docs/CONFIG_REFERENCE.md
+++ b/docs/CONFIG_REFERENCE.md
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ logical image to multiple chained physical panels.
 | `display_durations` | object, `{}` | Per-plugin display duration in seconds, keyed by plugin id (e.g. `"clock": 15`) | `DisplayController._get_display_duration()` (`src/display_controller.py`) |
 | `plugin_rotation_order` | array, `[]` | Explicit rotation order of plugin ids; empty = all enabled plugins in discovery order | `DisplayController._apply_plugin_rotation_order()` (`src/display_controller.py`) |
 | `use_short_date_format` | bool, `true` | Compact date rendering in sports scoreboards | Nothing since `src/base_classes` was removed; scoreboards read `display.use_short_date_format` from their own plugin config |
+| `scan_order_compensation` | string, `"auto"` | `"auto"` shows one half of each panel a refresh behind while something scrolls at one frame per refresh, which removes the 1px step a 1:N-scan panel shows across its middle; `"off"` disables it. Applies only to layouts whose row order is known: plain or parallel chains, 0 or 180 degree orientation, `multiplexing` 0, `scan_mode` 0, and not in the emulator | `DisplayManager._setup_scan_order_compensation()` (`src/display_manager.py`, `src/scan_order.py`) |
 | `dynamic_duration.max_duration_seconds` | int, optional | Cap for plugins that request dynamic display time | `DisplayController._get_global_dynamic_cap()` (`src/display_controller.py`) |
 
 ## `display.vegas_scroll` — continuous scroll mode
diff --git a/docs/SCROLL_PERFORMANCE.md b/docs/SCROLL_PERFORMANCE.md
index 2447f72f..d8ff8f25 100644
--- a/docs/SCROLL_PERFORMANCE.md
+++ b/docs/SCROLL_PERFORMANCE.md
@@ -495,10 +495,9 @@ of roughly
 offset ≈ scroll speed × refresh period
 ```
 
-Each frame already reaches the panel whole (`SwapOnVSync` swaps complete frames
-between refreshes), so there is nothing to fix in the render path; the shift is
-created inside a single refresh. Other panel heights show it too, at the point
-where their two scan halves meet.
+Each frame reaches the panel whole (`SwapOnVSync` swaps complete frames between
+refreshes); the shift is created inside a single refresh. Other panel heights
+show it too, at the point where their two scan halves meet.
 
 On the 2×128×64 chain above, which refreshes at about 130 Hz flat out
 (7.7 ms per pass):
@@ -509,7 +508,37 @@ On the 2×128×64 chain above, which refreshes at about 130 Hz flat out
 | 100 px/s | ~0.8 px |
 | 150 px/s | ~1.2 px, plainly visible |
 
-### What changes it
+### What the display does about it
+
+At one pixel per refresh, the fastest crisp speed, the step is exactly one
+refresh's worth of motion, so it can be cancelled: show one half of the panel
+a refresh behind the other -- the half whose row at the seam lights at the
+start of each refresh. The two rows either side of the seam then show the same
+moment again. What is left is a
+lean of one pixel per half from top to bottom, continuous across the panel,
+which reads as nothing where the step read as a tear. `DisplayManager` does
+this while something scrolls at one frame per refresh
+(`display.scan_order_compensation`, `"auto"` by default, `"off"` to disable;
+the geometry is in `src/scan_order.py`). The lagging rows come from the
+previous frame the display presented, so it works for Vegas and every plugin
+ticker without knowing how they scroll.
+
+Checked on hdpi (4×128×64 on one chain, rotated 180, 2026-09-24) before it was
+written: `scan_mode: 1` (interlaced) made the step vanish but turned moving
+edges grainy, and halving the speed halved it, so it is the scan and not a torn
+frame. With the compensation the step is gone at 90 px/s.
+
+It is left off where the row order is unknown or the maths does not hold:
+
+- **Slower speeds**, where each frame is held for two or more refreshes. The
+  offset there is half a pixel or less, and cancelling it would need a lag of
+  a fraction of a frame.
+- **Other layouts:** pixel mappers other than a 0 or 180 degree rotation
+  (U-mapper, 90/270), non-zero `multiplexing`, interlaced `scan_mode`, and a
+  canvas remapped to another height (double-sided mode).
+- **The emulator,** which has no scan order.
+
+### When it cannot apply
 
 Only a shorter scan period (a faster refresh) or a slower scroll. Measure what
 the panel actually achieves first. The library prints the rate with a carriage
@@ -540,7 +569,7 @@ on its own output and set `parallel` to the number of outputs used and
 should roughly double the refresh rate and halve the offset. That is a cable
 change, so measure again afterwards.
 
-Short of rewiring, keep fast scrolls moderate: at the default 50 px/s the
+Short of rewiring, keep fast scrolls moderate on those layouts: at 50 px/s the
 offset is under half a pixel.
 
 ## Rebuilding the binding
diff --git a/src/display_manager.py b/src/display_manager.py
index 2144be1d..a5d3be18 100644
--- a/src/display_manager.py
+++ b/src/display_manager.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
 from src.common.bdf_font import draw_bdf_text, load_bdf_face
 from src.common.font_layout import crisp_size, load_truetype, resolve_asset_path
+from src import scan_order
 from src.display_geometry import (
     DEFAULT_CHAIN_LENGTH, DEFAULT_COLS, DEFAULT_PARALLEL, DEFAULT_ROWS,
     compose_pixel_mapper_config, physical_size, resolve_double_sided,
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ from src.matrix_support import MatrixSettingsRefused, library_refusals, refusal_
 from src.pi5_matrix_support import is_raspberry_pi_5
 import threading
 import time
-from collections import OrderedDict
+from collections import OrderedDict, deque
 from typing import Dict, Any, List, Optional, Tuple
 import math
 import zlib
@@ -253,6 +254,7 @@ class DisplayManager:
         
         self._setup_matrix()
         logger.info("Matrix setup completed in %.3f seconds", time.time() - start_time)
+        self._setup_scan_order_compensation()
         
         font_time = time.time()
         self._load_fonts()
@@ -808,7 +810,7 @@ class DisplayManager:
                 if self._double_sided is not None:
                     self.offscreen_canvas.SetImage(self._composite_double_sided())
                 else:
-                    self.offscreen_canvas.SetImage(self.image)
+                    self.offscreen_canvas.SetImage(self._scan_compensated(self.image))
                 blit_done = time.perf_counter()
 
                 # Swap buffers immediately. framerate_fraction holds the frame
@@ -830,6 +832,48 @@ class DisplayManager:
         except Exception as e:
             logger.error(f"Error updating display: {e}")
 
+    def _setup_scan_order_compensation(self) -> None:
+        """Work out which rows to show a refresh behind while scrolling.
+
+        See src/scan_order.py. Only on real hardware: the emulator has no scan
+        order, so there the lag would add the very step it removes elsewhere.
+        """
+        self._scan_lag_bands = None
+        self._scan_history = deque(maxlen=1)
+        if (self.matrix is None or self._double_sided is not None
+                or os.environ.get('EMULATOR', 'false') == 'true'):
+            return
+        display = self.config.get('display') or {}
+        bands = scan_order.scan_lag_bands(
+            display.get('hardware') or {}, self.height,
+            display.get('scan_order_compensation', 'auto'))
+        if not bands:
+            return
+        self._scan_lag_bands = bands
+        self._scan_history = deque(maxlen=max(lag for _, _, lag in bands))
+        logger.info(
+            "Scan-order compensation on: while scrolling, %s",
+            ", ".join(f"rows {top}-{bottom - 1} show {lag} refresh(es) behind"
+                      for top, bottom, lag in bands))
+
+    def _scan_compensated(self, image: Image.Image) -> Image.Image:
+        """The frame to present, with lagging rows taken from earlier frames.
+
+        Only mid-scroll at one frame per refresh: that is when consecutive
+        frames are consecutive refreshes. At a longer hold, or on a static
+        screen, the history is dropped and the frame goes out as it is.
+        """
+        bands = getattr(self, '_scan_lag_bands', None)
+        if not bands:
+            return image
+        if self._frame_hold != 1 or not self.is_currently_scrolling():
+            self._scan_history.clear()
+            return image
+        presented = scan_order.compose(image, self._scan_history, bands)
+        # A copy: plugins draw into the same image object frame after frame.
+        self._scan_history.appendleft(image.copy())
+        return presented
+
     def clear(self):
         """Clear the display completely."""
         try:
diff --git a/src/scan_order.py b/src/scan_order.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2056c7c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scan_order.py
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+"""Compensate for the order an LED panel lights its rows.
+
+A HUB75 panel with 1:N multiplexing lights its rows in pairs: row ``d`` of the
+top half together with row ``d`` of the bottom half, ``d`` running from 0 to
+N-1 across each refresh. So the two rows either side of the middle of a panel
+are lit at opposite ends of every refresh: the last row of one half near the
+end, the first row of the other at the start. When the picture moves, each
+refresh shows it one step further on, and those two neighbouring rows -- lit
+almost a whole refresh apart -- show the text one step apart. On a strip
+scrolling a whole pixel per refresh that is a crisp 1px step across the middle
+of every panel, which the eye and a phone camera both see.
+
+Measured on hdpi (4x128x64 on one chain, rotated 180) on 2026-09-24: switching
+the panel to interlaced scanning made the step vanish, and halving the scroll
+speed halved it, so it is the scan order and not a torn frame. Showing one half
+of the panel a refresh behind the other lines those two rows up again. What is
+left is a uniform lean of about one step per half from top to bottom, which
+reads as nothing at all where the step read as a tear.
+
+Which half lags follows from the geometry. Walking the logical rows top to
+bottom, wherever the next row is lit near the start of a refresh and the one
+above it near the end, the section below must show one more refresh of lag to
+stay continuous with it (and one less where the order jumps the other way).
+Stacked parallel chains are lit simultaneously, so each further half adds one.
+
+Only layouts whose physical row order is known are compensated: plain chains,
+parallel chains, and a 0 or 180 degree rotation. Other pixel mappers
+(U-mapper, 90/270 rotation, ...), special multiplexing and interlaced scan are
+left alone, as is the emulator, which has no scan order to compensate for.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from collections.abc import Mapping
+from typing import Any, List, Optional, Sequence, Tuple
+
+from PIL import Image
+
+from src.display_geometry import compose_pixel_mapper_config
+
+#: (first row, last row + 1, refreshes of lag), for bands that lag at all.
+Band = Tuple[int, int, int]
+
+
+def _int(value: Any, default: int) -> int:
+    try:
+        return int(value)
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        return default
+
+
+def _rotation(hardware: Mapping[str, Any]) -> Optional[int]:
+    """The rotation applied by the pixel mappers, or None if they do anything else."""
+    mappers = [m.strip() for m in compose_pixel_mapper_config(hardware).split(';')
+               if m.strip()]
+    if not mappers:
+        return 0
+    if len(mappers) == 1 and mappers[0].replace(' ', '') in ('Rotate:0', 'Rotate:180'):
+        return int(mappers[0].split(':')[1])
+    return None
+
+
+def scan_lag_bands(hardware: Mapping[str, Any], height: int,
+                   setting: str = "auto") -> Optional[List[Band]]:
+    """Which rows of the logical canvas to show how many refreshes behind.
+
+    Returns None when compensation is off or the layout is not one this
+    understands; see the module docstring.
+    """
+    if str(setting or "auto").lower() == "off":
+        return None
+    rows = _int(hardware.get('rows'), 0)
+    parallel = max(1, _int(hardware.get('parallel'), 1))
+    if rows < 4 or rows % 2:
+        return None
+    if _int(hardware.get('multiplexing'), 0) != 0 or _int(hardware.get('scan_mode'), 0) != 0:
+        return None
+    rotation = _rotation(hardware)
+    if rotation is None:
+        return None
+    physical_height = rows * parallel
+    if physical_height != height:
+        return None   # something remapped the canvas; its row order is unknown
+
+    half = rows // 2
+
+    def phase(y: int) -> int:
+        """When in the refresh logical row y is lit, as a row-pair index."""
+        physical = y if rotation == 0 else physical_height - 1 - y
+        return (physical % rows) % half
+
+    lags = [0]
+    for y in range(1, physical_height):
+        step = phase(y) - phase(y - 1)
+        if step < -half / 2:      # lit near the start after a row lit near the end
+            lags.append(lags[-1] + 1)
+        elif step > half / 2:     # the other way round
+            lags.append(lags[-1] - 1)
+        else:
+            lags.append(lags[-1])
+    low = min(lags)
+    bands: List[Band] = []
+    for y, lag in enumerate(lags):
+        lag -= low
+        if bands and bands[-1][2] == lag and bands[-1][1] == y:
+            bands[-1] = (bands[-1][0], y + 1, lag)
+        else:
+            bands.append((y, y + 1, lag))
+    return [band for band in bands if band[2] > 0] or None
+
+
+def compose(image: Image.Image, history: Sequence[Image.Image],
+            bands: Sequence[Band]) -> Image.Image:
+    """``image`` with each band taken from the frame ``lag`` refreshes back.
+
+    ``history[0]`` is the previous frame. A band whose frame is not available
+    yet (the first frames of a scroll) is left current. Returns ``image`` itself
+    when nothing changes, so the caller pays for a copy only when it must.
+    """
+    out = image
+    for top, bottom, lag in bands:
+        if lag > len(history):
+            continue
+        source = history[lag - 1]
+        if source.size != image.size:
+            continue
+        if out is image:
+            out = image.copy()
+        out.paste(source.crop((0, top, source.width, bottom)), (0, top))
+    return out
diff --git a/test/test_scan_order.py b/test/test_scan_order.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9618e225
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_scan_order.py
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+"""Scan-order compensation (src/scan_order.py) and its use in update_display.
+
+Confirmed on hdpi's panel before any of this was written: rotated 180, one
+chain, 64 rows. Showing the upper half a refresh behind removed the 1px step
+across the middle of the panel that a whole-pixel-per-refresh scroll showed;
+see the module docstring for why.
+"""
+
+import os
+import sys
+
+os.environ.setdefault("EMULATOR", "true")
+
+import pytest
+from PIL import Image, ImageDraw
+
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), ".."))
+
+from src import scan_order  # noqa: E402
+
+
+def hw(**overrides):
+    base = {"rows": 64, "cols": 128, "chain_length": 4, "parallel": 1,
+            "multiplexing": 0, "scan_mode": 0, "pixel_mapper_config": "",
+            "orientation": "normal"}
+    base.update(overrides)
+    return base
+
+
+class TestWhichRowsLag:
+    def test_hdpi_rotated_180_lags_the_upper_half(self):
+        # The configuration the panel test confirmed.
+        assert scan_order.scan_lag_bands(hw(orientation="180"), 64) == [(0, 32, 1)]
+
+    def test_unrotated_lags_the_lower_half(self):
+        assert scan_order.scan_lag_bands(hw(), 64) == [(32, 64, 1)]
+
+    def test_a_32_row_panel_splits_at_16(self):
+        assert scan_order.scan_lag_bands(hw(rows=32), 32) == [(16, 32, 1)]
+
+    def test_a_48_row_panel_splits_at_24(self):
+        assert scan_order.scan_lag_bands(hw(rows=48), 48) == [(24, 48, 1)]
+
+    def test_stacked_parallel_chains_lag_one_more_per_half(self):
+        # Chains are lit together, so every half boundary down the stack is
+        # another start-after-end jump: a continuous lean, never a step.
+        assert scan_order.scan_lag_bands(hw(parallel=2), 128) == [
+            (32, 64, 1), (64, 96, 2), (96, 128, 3)]
+
+    def test_stacked_and_rotated_mirrors_it(self):
+        assert scan_order.scan_lag_bands(hw(parallel=2, orientation="180"), 128) == [
+            (0, 32, 3), (32, 64, 2), (64, 96, 1)]
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("overrides", [
+        {"pixel_mapper_config": "U-mapper"},
+        {"orientation": "90"},
+        {"multiplexing": 3},
+        {"scan_mode": 1},
+        {"rows": 7},
+    ])
+    def test_layouts_it_cannot_reason_about_are_left_alone(self, overrides):
+        assert scan_order.scan_lag_bands(hw(**overrides), 64) is None
+
+    def test_a_canvas_of_another_height_is_left_alone(self):
+        # Something remapped it (double-sided, a mapper): row order unknown.
+        assert scan_order.scan_lag_bands(hw(), 32) is None
+
+    def test_it_can_be_switched_off(self):
+        assert scan_order.scan_lag_bands(hw(), 64, setting="off") is None
+
+
+def _frame(shade):
+    return Image.new("RGB", (8, 64), (shade, shade, shade))
+
+
+class TestCompose:
+    def test_a_band_comes_from_the_frame_that_many_refreshes_back(self):
+        now, previous = _frame(30), _frame(20)
+        out = scan_order.compose(now, [previous], [(32, 64, 1)])
+        assert out.getpixel((0, 0)) == (30, 30, 30)       # current half
+        assert out.getpixel((0, 63)) == (20, 20, 20)      # lagging half
+        assert now.getpixel((0, 63)) == (30, 30, 30)      # input untouched
+
+    def test_deeper_bands_use_older_frames(self):
+        out = scan_order.compose(_frame(40), [_frame(30), _frame(20)],
+                                 [(10, 20, 1), (20, 30, 2)])
+        assert [out.getpixel((0, y))[0] for y in (5, 15, 25)] == [40, 30, 20]
+
+    def test_without_enough_history_the_frame_goes_out_as_is(self):
+        now = _frame(30)
+        assert scan_order.compose(now, [], [(32, 64, 1)]) is now
+
+
+class TestUpdateDisplay:
+    """The wiring: when the display manager applies it, and when it doesn't."""
+
+    @pytest.fixture
+    def dm(self):
+        from src.display_manager import DisplayManager
+        DisplayManager._instance = None
+        DisplayManager._initialized = False
+        manager = DisplayManager({"display": {
+            "hardware": {"rows": 32, "cols": 64, "chain_length": 1, "parallel": 1},
+            "runtime": {"gpio_slowdown": 0}}}, suppress_test_pattern=True)
+        presented = []
+
+        # update_display alternates between two canvases; watch both.
+        for canvas in (manager.offscreen_canvas, manager.current_canvas):
+            def capture(image, *args, _real=canvas.SetImage, **kwargs):
+                presented.append(image.copy())
+                return _real(image, *args, **kwargs)
+            canvas.SetImage = capture
+        manager._presented = presented
+        yield manager
+        manager.set_scrolling_state(False)
+        DisplayManager._instance = None
+        DisplayManager._initialized = False
+
+    def _push(self, dm, shade):
+        dm.draw.rectangle([0, 0, dm.width - 1, dm.height - 1], fill=(shade, 0, 0))
+        dm.update_display()
+        return dm._presented[-1]
+
+    def test_off_in_the_emulator(self, dm):
+        # No scan order there: lagging a half would add the step it removes.
+        assert dm._scan_lag_bands is None
+
+    def test_lags_mid_scroll_at_one_frame_per_refresh(self, dm):
+        dm._scan_lag_bands = [(16, 32, 1)]
+        dm.set_scrolling_state(True, 1)
+        self._push(dm, 10)
+        shown = self._push(dm, 20)
+        assert shown.getpixel((0, 0)) == (20, 0, 0)
+        assert shown.getpixel((0, 31)) == (10, 0, 0)
+
+    def test_not_on_a_static_screen_or_a_held_frame(self, dm):
+        dm._scan_lag_bands = [(16, 32, 1)]
+        self._push(dm, 10)
+        assert self._push(dm, 20).getpixel((0, 31)) == (20, 0, 0)   # not scrolling
+        dm.set_scrolling_state(True, 2)
+        self._push(dm, 30)
+        assert self._push(dm, 40).getpixel((0, 31)) == (40, 0, 0)   # hold 2