diff --git a/electron/electron-env.d.ts b/electron/electron-env.d.ts
index 773784ae..bdd6d8df 100644
--- a/electron/electron-env.d.ts
+++ b/electron/electron-env.d.ts
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ interface Window {
 		hudOverlayDrag: (phase: "start" | "move" | "end", screenX: number, screenY: number) => void;
 		hudOverlayHide: () => void;
 		hudOverlayClose: () => void;
+		hudOverlayRendererReady: () => void;
 		setHudOverlayExpanded: (expanded: boolean) => void;
 		setHudOverlayCompactWidth: (width: number) => void;
 		setHudOverlayMeasuredHeight: (height: number, expanded: boolean) => void;
diff --git a/electron/preload.ts b/electron/preload.ts
index 4d988b35..5a9f5ea7 100644
--- a/electron/preload.ts
+++ b/electron/preload.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld("electronAPI", {
 	hudOverlayClose: () => {
 		ipcRenderer.send("hud-overlay-close");
 	},
+	hudOverlayRendererReady: () => {
+		ipcRenderer.send("hud-overlay-renderer-ready");
+	},
 	setHudOverlayExpanded: (expanded: boolean) => {
 		ipcRenderer.send("set-hud-overlay-expanded", expanded);
 	},
diff --git a/electron/windows.ts b/electron/windows.ts
index 37f4853b..fff60a07 100644
--- a/electron/windows.ts
+++ b/electron/windows.ts
@@ -364,6 +364,7 @@ ipcMain.handle("set-hud-overlay-capture-protection", (_event, enabled: boolean)
 export function createHudOverlayWindow(): BrowserWindow {
 	loadHudOverlayCaptureProtectionSetting();
 	const initialBounds = getHudOverlayBounds();
+	let hasShownHudWindow = false;
 
 	const win = new BrowserWindow({
 		width: initialBounds.width,
@@ -372,6 +373,7 @@ export function createHudOverlayWindow(): BrowserWindow {
 		y: initialBounds.y,
 		frame: false,
 		transparent: true,
+		backgroundColor: "#00000000",
 		resizable: false,
 		alwaysOnTop: true,
 		skipTaskbar: true,
@@ -386,6 +388,23 @@ export function createHudOverlayWindow(): BrowserWindow {
 		},
 	});
 
+	const showHudWindow = () => {
+		if (hasShownHudWindow || win.isDestroyed()) {
+			return;
+		}
+		hasShownHudWindow = true;
+		win.show();
+		win.moveTop();
+		if (process.platform === "win32" && isHudOverlayMousePassthroughSupported()) {
+			win.setIgnoreMouseEvents(false);
+			setTimeout(() => {
+				if (!win.isDestroyed()) {
+					win.setIgnoreMouseEvents(true, { forward: true });
+				}
+			}, 50);
+		}
+	};
+
 	if (isHudOverlayCaptureProtectionSupported()) {
 		win.setContentProtection(hudOverlayHiddenFromCapture);
 	}
@@ -415,32 +434,18 @@ export function createHudOverlayWindow(): BrowserWindow {
 
 	win.webContents.on("did-finish-load", () => {
 		win?.webContents.send("main-process-message", new Date().toLocaleString());
+		// Safety fallback if renderer-ready signal never arrives.
 		setTimeout(() => {
-			if (!win.isDestroyed()) {
-				win.show();
-				win.moveTop();
-				if (process.platform === "win32" && isHudOverlayMousePassthroughSupported()) {
-					win.setIgnoreMouseEvents(false);
-					setTimeout(() => {
-						if (!win.isDestroyed()) {
-							win.setIgnoreMouseEvents(true, { forward: true });
-						}
-					}, 50);
-				}
-			}
-		}, 100);
+			showHudWindow();
+		}, 1800);
 	});
 
-	// Safety net: on Linux the renderer may fail to fire did-finish-load
-	// (e.g. GPU/VAAPI errors). Show the window after ready-to-show as fallback.
-	win.once("ready-to-show", () => {
-		setTimeout(() => {
-			if (!win.isDestroyed() && !win.isVisible()) {
-				win.show();
-				win.moveTop();
-			}
-		}, 500);
-	});
+	const handleHudRendererReady = () => {
+		if (!win.isDestroyed()) {
+			showHudWindow();
+		}
+	};
+	ipcMain.on("hud-overlay-renderer-ready", handleHudRendererReady);
 
 	hudOverlayWindow = win;
 
@@ -480,6 +485,7 @@ export function createHudOverlayWindow(): BrowserWindow {
 	screen.on("display-metrics-changed", handleDisplayMetricsChanged);
 
 	win.on("closed", () => {
+		ipcMain.removeListener("hud-overlay-renderer-ready", handleHudRendererReady);
 		screen.removeListener("display-removed", handleDisplayRemoved);
 		screen.removeListener("display-metrics-changed", handleDisplayMetricsChanged);
 		if (hudOverlayWindow === win) {
diff --git a/src/components/launch/LaunchWindow.module.css b/src/components/launch/LaunchWindow.module.css
index 3764270a..9d48ba0b 100644
--- a/src/components/launch/LaunchWindow.module.css
+++ b/src/components/launch/LaunchWindow.module.css
@@ -104,11 +104,13 @@
 	width: 300px;
 	max-height: 400px;
 	overflow-y: auto;
-	background: var(--launch-panel, rgba(34, 40, 56, 0.62));
+	background: var(--launch-surface, rgba(18, 18, 24, 0.97));
 	border: 1px solid var(--launch-border, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.07));
 	border-radius: 16px;
-	backdrop-filter: blur(18px) saturate(140%);
-	-webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(18px) saturate(140%);
+	backdrop-filter: blur(var(--launch-popover-blur, 24px))
+		saturate(var(--launch-popover-saturate, 145%));
+	-webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(var(--launch-popover-blur, 24px))
+		saturate(var(--launch-popover-saturate, 145%));
 	padding: 8px;
 	margin-top: auto;
 	margin-bottom: 8px;
diff --git a/src/components/launch/LaunchWindow.tsx b/src/components/launch/LaunchWindow.tsx
index 480c7c81..11c14770 100644
--- a/src/components/launch/LaunchWindow.tsx
+++ b/src/components/launch/LaunchWindow.tsx
@@ -186,6 +186,11 @@ export function LaunchWindow() {
 
 	const supportsHudCaptureProtection = platform !== "linux";
 
+	useEffect(() => {
+		// Tell main process to reveal the HUD only after renderer mounted.
+		window.electronAPI?.hudOverlayRendererReady?.();
+	}, []);
+
 	useEffect(() => {
 		if (!selectedDeviceId) {
 			return;
diff --git a/src/components/launch/SourceSelector.css b/src/components/launch/SourceSelector.css
index 24d6ae7e..225b0ac8 100644
--- a/src/components/launch/SourceSelector.css
+++ b/src/components/launch/SourceSelector.css
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 .source-selector-popover {
-	background: var(--launch-panel, rgba(34, 40, 56, 0.62));
+	background: var(--launch-surface, rgba(18, 18, 24, 0.97));
 	border: 1px solid var(--launch-border, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.07));
 	border-radius: 16px;
-	backdrop-filter: blur(18px) saturate(140%);
-	-webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(18px) saturate(140%);
+	backdrop-filter: blur(var(--launch-popover-blur, 24px))
+		saturate(var(--launch-popover-saturate, 145%));
+	-webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(var(--launch-popover-blur, 24px))
+		saturate(var(--launch-popover-saturate, 145%));
 	box-shadow:
 		0 16px 40px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.28),
 		0 2px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12),
diff --git a/src/components/launch/launchTheme.css b/src/components/launch/launchTheme.css
index 06ff9586..f1b8e3ef 100644
--- a/src/components/launch/launchTheme.css
+++ b/src/components/launch/launchTheme.css
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 .launch-theme {
-	--launch-surface: rgba(26, 28, 36, 0.92);
+	--launch-surface: rgba(18, 18, 24, 0.97);
 	--launch-panel: rgba(18, 18, 24, 0.82);
 	--launch-border: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.07);
+	--launch-popover-blur: 24px;
+	--launch-popover-saturate: 145%;
 	--launch-border-strong: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.12);
 	--launch-text: #f3f6ff;
 	--launch-text-muted: #aab3c7;