diff --git a/static/js/components/shared/ModelCard.js b/static/js/components/shared/ModelCard.js
index 2a3c0d2f..17226bc0 100644
--- a/static/js/components/shared/ModelCard.js
+++ b/static/js/components/shared/ModelCard.js
@@ -435,7 +435,18 @@ export function createModelCard(model, modelType) {
     // Check if autoplayOnHover is enabled for video previews
     const autoplayOnHover = state.global?.settings?.autoplay_on_hover || false;
     const isVideo = previewUrl.endsWith('.mp4');
-    const videoAttrs = autoplayOnHover ? 'controls muted loop' : 'controls autoplay muted loop';
+    const videoAttrs = [
+        'controls',
+        'muted',
+        'loop',
+        'playsinline',
+        'preload="none"',
+        `data-src="${versionedPreviewUrl}"`
+    ];
+
+    if (!autoplayOnHover) {
+        videoAttrs.push('data-autoplay="true"');
+    }
 
     // Get favorite status from model data
     const isFavorite = model.favorite === true;
@@ -473,9 +484,7 @@ export function createModelCard(model, modelType) {
     card.innerHTML = `
         <div class="card-preview ${shouldBlur ? 'blurred' : ''}">
             ${isVideo ? 
-                `<video ${videoAttrs} style="pointer-events: none;">
-                    <source src="${versionedPreviewUrl}" type="video/mp4">
-                </video>` :
+                `<video ${videoAttrs.join(' ')} style="pointer-events: none;"></video>` :
                 `<img src="${versionedPreviewUrl}" alt="${model.model_name}">`
             }
             <div class="card-header">
@@ -514,21 +523,155 @@ export function createModelCard(model, modelType) {
     
     // Add video auto-play on hover functionality if needed
     const videoElement = card.querySelector('video');
-    if (videoElement && autoplayOnHover) {
-        const cardPreview = card.querySelector('.card-preview');
-        
-        // Remove autoplay attribute and pause initially
-        videoElement.removeAttribute('autoplay');
-        videoElement.pause();
-        
-        // Add mouse events to trigger play/pause using event attributes
-        cardPreview.setAttribute('onmouseenter', 'this.querySelector("video")?.play()');
-        cardPreview.setAttribute('onmouseleave', 'const v=this.querySelector("video"); if(v){v.pause();v.currentTime=0;}');
+    if (videoElement) {
+        configureModelCardVideo(videoElement, autoplayOnHover);
     }
 
     return card;
 }
 
+const VIDEO_LAZY_ROOT_MARGIN = '200px 0px';
+let videoLazyObserver = null;
+
+function ensureVideoLazyObserver() {
+    if (videoLazyObserver) {
+        return videoLazyObserver;
+    }
+
+    videoLazyObserver = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => {
+        entries.forEach(entry => {
+            if (entry.isIntersecting) {
+                const target = entry.target;
+                observer.unobserve(target);
+                loadVideoSource(target);
+            }
+        });
+    }, {
+        root: null,
+        rootMargin: VIDEO_LAZY_ROOT_MARGIN,
+        threshold: 0.01
+    });
+
+    return videoLazyObserver;
+}
+
+function cleanupHoverHandlers(videoElement) {
+    const handlers = videoElement._hoverHandlers;
+    if (!handlers) return;
+
+    const { cardPreview, mouseEnter, mouseLeave } = handlers;
+    if (cardPreview) {
+        cardPreview.removeEventListener('mouseenter', mouseEnter);
+        cardPreview.removeEventListener('mouseleave', mouseLeave);
+    }
+
+    delete videoElement._hoverHandlers;
+}
+
+function requestSafePlay(videoElement) {
+    const playPromise = videoElement.play();
+    if (playPromise && typeof playPromise.catch === 'function') {
+        playPromise.catch(() => {});
+    }
+}
+
+function loadVideoSource(videoElement) {
+    if (!videoElement || videoElement.dataset.loaded === 'true') {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    const sourceElement = videoElement.querySelector('source');
+    const dataSrc = videoElement.dataset.src || sourceElement?.dataset?.src;
+
+    if (!dataSrc) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    // Ensure src attributes are reset before applying
+    videoElement.removeAttribute('src');
+    if (sourceElement) {
+        sourceElement.src = dataSrc;
+    } else {
+        videoElement.src = dataSrc;
+    }
+
+    videoElement.load();
+    videoElement.dataset.loaded = 'true';
+
+    if (videoElement.dataset.autoplay === 'true') {
+        videoElement.setAttribute('autoplay', '');
+        requestSafePlay(videoElement);
+    }
+}
+
+export function configureModelCardVideo(videoElement, autoplayOnHover) {
+    if (!videoElement) return;
+
+    cleanupHoverHandlers(videoElement);
+
+    const sourceElement = videoElement.querySelector('source');
+    const existingSrc = videoElement.dataset.src || sourceElement?.dataset?.src || videoElement.currentSrc;
+
+    if (existingSrc && !videoElement.dataset.src) {
+        videoElement.dataset.src = existingSrc;
+    }
+
+    if (sourceElement && !sourceElement.dataset.src) {
+        sourceElement.dataset.src = videoElement.dataset.src || sourceElement.src;
+    }
+
+    videoElement.removeAttribute('autoplay');
+    videoElement.removeAttribute('src');
+    videoElement.setAttribute('preload', 'none');
+    videoElement.setAttribute('muted', '');
+    videoElement.setAttribute('loop', '');
+    videoElement.setAttribute('playsinline', '');
+    videoElement.setAttribute('controls', '');
+    videoElement.dataset.loaded = 'false';
+
+    if (sourceElement) {
+        sourceElement.removeAttribute('src');
+        if (videoElement.dataset.src) {
+            sourceElement.dataset.src = videoElement.dataset.src;
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (!autoplayOnHover) {
+        videoElement.dataset.autoplay = 'true';
+    } else {
+        delete videoElement.dataset.autoplay;
+    }
+
+    const observer = ensureVideoLazyObserver();
+    observer.observe(videoElement);
+
+    // Pause the video until it is either hovered or autoplay kicks in
+    try {
+        videoElement.pause();
+    } catch (err) {
+        // Ignore pause errors (e.g., if not loaded yet)
+    }
+
+    if (autoplayOnHover) {
+        const cardPreview = videoElement.closest('.card-preview');
+        if (cardPreview) {
+            const mouseEnter = () => {
+                loadVideoSource(videoElement);
+                requestSafePlay(videoElement);
+            };
+            const mouseLeave = () => {
+                videoElement.pause();
+                videoElement.currentTime = 0;
+            };
+
+            cardPreview.addEventListener('mouseenter', mouseEnter);
+            cardPreview.addEventListener('mouseleave', mouseLeave);
+
+            videoElement._hoverHandlers = { cardPreview, mouseEnter, mouseLeave };
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 // Add a method to update card appearance based on bulk mode (LoRA only)
 export function updateCardsForBulkMode(isBulkMode) {
     // Update the state
@@ -567,4 +710,6 @@ export function updateCardsForBulkMode(isBulkMode) {
     if (isBulkMode) {
         bulkManager.applySelectionState();
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
+
diff --git a/static/js/managers/SettingsManager.js b/static/js/managers/SettingsManager.js
index b6ffe6c2..d7a03fc5 100644
--- a/static/js/managers/SettingsManager.js
+++ b/static/js/managers/SettingsManager.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { resetAndReload } from '../api/modelApiFactory.js';
 import { DOWNLOAD_PATH_TEMPLATES, MAPPABLE_BASE_MODELS, PATH_TEMPLATE_PLACEHOLDERS, DEFAULT_PATH_TEMPLATES } from '../utils/constants.js';
 import { translate } from '../utils/i18nHelpers.js';
 import { i18n } from '../i18n/index.js';
+import { configureModelCardVideo } from '../components/shared/ModelCard.js';
 
 export class SettingsManager {
     constructor() {
@@ -1222,29 +1223,7 @@ export class SettingsManager {
         // Apply autoplay setting to existing videos in card previews
         const autoplayOnHover = state.global.settings.autoplay_on_hover;
         document.querySelectorAll('.card-preview video').forEach(video => {
-            // Remove previous event listeners by cloning and replacing the element
-            const videoParent = video.parentElement;
-            const videoClone = video.cloneNode(true);
-            
-            if (autoplayOnHover) {
-                // Pause video initially and set up mouse events for hover playback
-                videoClone.removeAttribute('autoplay');
-                videoClone.pause();
-                
-                // Add mouse events to the parent element
-                videoParent.onmouseenter = () => videoClone.play();
-                videoParent.onmouseleave = () => {
-                    videoClone.pause();
-                    videoClone.currentTime = 0;
-                };
-            } else {
-                // Use default autoplay behavior
-                videoClone.setAttribute('autoplay', '');
-                videoParent.onmouseenter = null;
-                videoParent.onmouseleave = null;
-            }
-            
-            videoParent.replaceChild(videoClone, video);
+            configureModelCardVideo(video, autoplayOnHover);
         });
         
         // Apply display density class to grid