diff --git a/docs/architecture/vod-multi-source.md b/docs/architecture/vod-multi-source.md
index a87f6abec..125af10c7 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/vod-multi-source.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/vod-multi-source.md
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ blob whose search path forces `content_type: 'live'`. Both are additive later
 without changing the contracts — `VodSourceCandidate.portalType` already carries
 `'xtream' | 'stalker' | 'm3u'` and discovery sits behind a service interface.
 
+A probe answer is cached per *request*, not per URL: two playlists can share a
+stream URL and require different headers, and one of them answering 403 says
+nothing about the other.
+
 `ffprobe`/`ffmpeg` are not dependencies of this app and are not bundled, so
 `provenance: 'probe'` means reachability and latency only. There is deliberately
 no feature flag for codec probing: it would gate a code path with no binary
@@ -57,7 +61,10 @@ Three rules follow, and each is enforced in code rather than by convention:
    letterboxed masters are cropped vertically — a 2.39:1 1080p film is 1920×800,
    and 800 alone is indistinguishable from a 1280×800 encode. With no width, a
    height is trusted only within 5% of a standard frame height; otherwise no tag
-   is emitted.
+   is emitted. Below the HD widths the numbers stop separating cleanly — 720
+   wide is NTSC 480p or PAL 576p depending on the height, 640 is 360p — so an
+   unrecognised shape returns nothing rather than a bucket that would be
+   published as an `api` fact.
 
 Provenance is per-field and changes over time: at discovery a row has only
 `parsed` tags, because the `content` table stores no container, codec or audio.
@@ -360,6 +367,11 @@ a page that shows a Stop button for a session whose progress it discards keeps
 the resume point at wherever playback began, so a switch an hour later rewinds
 the whole session.
 
+The caption itself appears only while a player is actually running — inline or
+a matched external session. Discovery marks a source active as the page opens,
+so gating on that alone would have the page claim "Playing from …" before Play
+was pressed, and again after the player was closed.
+
 Whichever source ends up playing, the "playing" badge follows it: starting the
 route's own stream (Play, Resume, Restart, or the fallback after a pin does not
 apply) hands the badge back to the route row, or the picker and caption go on
diff --git a/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/multi-source/vod-source-metadata.util.spec.ts b/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/multi-source/vod-source-metadata.util.spec.ts
index d59f35b15..76c775761 100644
--- a/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/multi-source/vod-source-metadata.util.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/multi-source/vod-source-metadata.util.spec.ts
@@ -123,6 +123,37 @@ describe('applyApiMetadata', () => {
         ).toEqual({ value: '1080p', provenance: 'api' });
     });
 
+    it('does not call every small stream 480p', () => {
+        // The old rule labelled ANY width under 900 as 480p, published with
+        // `api` provenance — so a 640x360 stream stated 480p as a fact.
+        expect(
+            applyApiMetadata(candidate(), { width: 640, height: 360 }).quality
+        ).toEqual({ value: '360p', provenance: 'api' });
+        expect(
+            applyApiMetadata(candidate(), { width: 854, height: 480 }).quality
+        ).toEqual({ value: '480p', provenance: 'api' });
+    });
+
+    it('reads the height when one width covers two formats', () => {
+        // 720 wide is NTSC 480p or PAL 576p; only the height separates them,
+        // and without one there is no honest answer to give.
+        expect(
+            applyApiMetadata(candidate(), { width: 720, height: 576 }).quality
+        ).toEqual({ value: '576p', provenance: 'api' });
+        expect(
+            applyApiMetadata(candidate(), { width: 720, height: 480 }).quality
+        ).toEqual({ value: '480p', provenance: 'api' });
+        expect(
+            applyApiMetadata(candidate(), { width: 720 }).quality
+        ).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    it('emits nothing for a width below every known format', () => {
+        expect(
+            applyApiMetadata(candidate(), { width: 320, height: 240 }).quality
+        ).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
     it('emits no quality for an ambiguous cropped height', () => {
         // 800 lines alone could be a cropped 1080p or a 1280x800 encode.
         // Guessing here would publish a wrong value labelled as a fact.
diff --git a/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/multi-source/vod-source-metadata.util.ts b/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/multi-source/vod-source-metadata.util.ts
index cafe2d570..4f503aebc 100644
--- a/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/multi-source/vod-source-metadata.util.ts
+++ b/libs/portal/shared/data-access/src/lib/multi-source/vod-source-metadata.util.ts
@@ -238,6 +238,34 @@ function isPositiveNumber(value: number | null | undefined): value is number {
  * height. Anything else returns null, so the row shows no tag and offers a
  * check instead. Empty beats wrong.
  */
+/**
+ * Below the HD widths the numbers stop separating cleanly.
+ *
+ * 854 is 480p, but 720 is NTSC 480p or PAL 576p depending on the height, and
+ * 640 is 360p — which the old "anything under 900 is 480p" rule published as
+ * an `api` FACT for all of them. Empty beats wrong: an unrecognised shape
+ * returns nothing and the row simply carries no quality tag.
+ */
+function smallFormatQuality(
+    width: number,
+    height: number | null | undefined
+): string | null {
+    if (width >= 800) {
+        return '480p';
+    }
+    if (width >= 700) {
+        // The one width two formats share; only the height tells them apart.
+        if (!isPositiveNumber(height)) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        return height >= 520 ? '576p' : '480p';
+    }
+    if (width >= 600) {
+        return '360p';
+    }
+    return null;
+}
+
 function qualityFromDimensions(
     width: number | null | undefined,
     height: number | null | undefined
@@ -258,7 +286,7 @@ function qualityFromDimensions(
         if (width >= 900) {
             return '576p';
         }
-        return '480p';
+        return smallFormatQuality(width, height);
     }
 
     if (!isPositiveNumber(height)) {
diff --git a/libs/portal/xtream/feature/src/lib/vod-details/vod-details-route-playback.spec.ts b/libs/portal/xtream/feature/src/lib/vod-details/vod-details-route-playback.spec.ts
index 628ed5208..ab333653b 100644
--- a/libs/portal/xtream/feature/src/lib/vod-details/vod-details-route-playback.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/portal/xtream/feature/src/lib/vod-details/vod-details-route-playback.spec.ts
@@ -211,6 +211,47 @@ describe('VodDetailsRouteComponent — playback actions', () => {
         consoleWarnSpy?.mockRestore();
     });
 
+    it('claims to be playing only while something is', () => {
+        currentPlaylist.set({ id: 'playlist-1' });
+        const component = fixture.componentInstance;
+        const playback = fixture.debugElement.injector.get(
+            VodDetailsPlaybackService
+        );
+        Object.defineProperty(component.multiSource, 'sources', {
+            configurable: true,
+            value: () => [
+                {
+                    id: 'playlist-1:xtream:650020',
+                    playlistId: 'playlist-1',
+                    playlistName: 'Portal One',
+                    portalType: 'xtream',
+                    contentId: 650020,
+                    rawTitle: 'Example',
+                    matchConfidence: 'exact',
+                    year: null,
+                    isActive: true,
+                    isPinned: false,
+                    isTried: true,
+                    probe: { status: 'idle' },
+                },
+            ],
+        });
+
+        // Discovery marks a source active as soon as the page opens, so the
+        // caption would otherwise say "Playing from ..." before Play is
+        // pressed — and again after the player is closed.
+        expect(component.activeSourceCaption()).toBeNull();
+
+        playback.inlinePlayback.set({
+            streamUrl: 'http://example.com/movie.mkv',
+            title: 'Example',
+        });
+        expect(component.activeSourceCaption()).not.toBeNull();
+
+        playback.inlinePlayback.set(null);
+        expect(component.activeSourceCaption()).toBeNull();
+    });
+
     it('owns an external session for a copy in its own playlist', () => {
         currentPlaylist.set({ id: 'playlist-1' });
         const component = fixture.componentInstance;
diff --git a/libs/portal/xtream/feature/src/lib/vod-details/vod-details-route.component.ts b/libs/portal/xtream/feature/src/lib/vod-details/vod-details-route.component.ts
index 1e53a2f13..0939e27fc 100644
--- a/libs/portal/xtream/feature/src/lib/vod-details/vod-details-route.component.ts
+++ b/libs/portal/xtream/feature/src/lib/vod-details/vod-details-route.component.ts
@@ -549,7 +549,13 @@ export class VodDetailsRouteComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
     /** The ".srcbar" caption under the action row: where this is playing from. */
     readonly activeSourceCaption = computed(() => {
         const active = this.multiSource.sources().find((s) => s.isActive);
-        if (!active) {
+        // "Playing from" only while something actually is. Discovery marks a
+        // source active as soon as the page opens, so gating on that alone
+        // makes the line a claim about a player that has not started — or one
+        // the user has since closed.
+        const playing =
+            !!this.inlinePlayback() || !!this.matchedExternalPlayback();
+        if (!active || !playing) {
             return null;
         }
 
diff --git a/libs/services/src/lib/stream-probe.service.spec.ts b/libs/services/src/lib/stream-probe.service.spec.ts
index c556dd2c7..0fa4810e8 100644
--- a/libs/services/src/lib/stream-probe.service.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/services/src/lib/stream-probe.service.spec.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,28 @@ describe('StreamProbeService', () => {
         );
     });
 
+    it('does not answer one playlist with another’s probe result', async () => {
+        const probe = jest
+            .fn()
+            .mockResolvedValueOnce({ status: 200, url: 'http://x/y.mkv' })
+            .mockResolvedValueOnce({ status: 403, url: 'http://x/y.mkv' });
+        const service = withBridge(probe as ProbeFn);
+
+        const first = await service.probe('http://x/y.mkv', 'HEAD', {
+            userAgent: 'PlayerOne/1.0',
+        });
+        const second = await service.probe('http://x/y.mkv', 'HEAD', {
+            userAgent: 'PlayerTwo/2.0',
+        });
+
+        // Two playlists can share a stream URL and require different headers.
+        // Reusing the first answer would state the second source is dead
+        // without ever having asked it.
+        expect(probe).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+        expect(first.status).toBe('ok');
+        expect(second.status).toBe('fail');
+    });
+
     it('carries the playlist headers into both attempts', async () => {
         const headers = { userAgent: 'MyPlayer/2.0', referer: 'http://x/' };
         const probe = jest
diff --git a/libs/services/src/lib/stream-probe.service.ts b/libs/services/src/lib/stream-probe.service.ts
index 8c9b16ab3..af4980a4a 100644
--- a/libs/services/src/lib/stream-probe.service.ts
+++ b/libs/services/src/lib/stream-probe.service.ts
@@ -37,9 +37,35 @@ export class StreamProbeService {
         );
     }
 
-    /** A cached result for this URL, if one is still fresh. */
-    peek(url: string): VodSourceProbeResult | null {
-        const entry = this.cache.get(url);
+    /**
+     * The key an answer is stored under.
+     *
+     * Not the URL alone: the same stream URL can be shared by two playlists
+     * that require different headers, and one of them answering 403 says
+     * nothing about the other. Reusing that result would state a source is
+     * dead without ever having asked it.
+     */
+    private cacheKey(
+        url: string,
+        method: 'GET' | 'HEAD',
+        headers?: StreamProbeHeaders
+    ): string {
+        return [
+            url,
+            method,
+            headers?.userAgent ?? '',
+            headers?.referer ?? '',
+            headers?.origin ?? '',
+        ].join('\u0000');
+    }
+
+    /** A cached result for this exact request, if one is still fresh. */
+    peek(
+        url: string,
+        method: 'GET' | 'HEAD' = 'HEAD',
+        headers?: StreamProbeHeaders
+    ): VodSourceProbeResult | null {
+        const entry = this.cache.get(this.cacheKey(url, method, headers));
         if (!entry || Date.now() - entry.storedAt > CACHE_TTL_MS) {
             return null;
         }
@@ -61,20 +87,21 @@ export class StreamProbeService {
             return { status: 'unknown' };
         }
 
-        const cached = this.peek(url);
+        const key = this.cacheKey(url, method, headers);
+        const cached = this.peek(url, method, headers);
         if (cached) {
             return cached;
         }
 
-        const pending = this.inFlight.get(url);
+        const pending = this.inFlight.get(key);
         if (pending) {
             return pending;
         }
 
         const request = this.runProbe(url, method, headers).finally(() => {
-            this.inFlight.delete(url);
+            this.inFlight.delete(key);
         });
-        this.inFlight.set(url, request);
+        this.inFlight.set(key, request);
         return request;
     }
 
@@ -126,7 +153,10 @@ export class StreamProbeService {
         // caching it would keep a perfectly good source looking unverified
         // for the whole TTL.
         if (result.status !== 'unknown') {
-            this.cache.set(url, { result, storedAt: Date.now() });
+            this.cache.set(this.cacheKey(url, method, headers), {
+                result,
+                storedAt: Date.now(),
+            });
         }
 
         return result;