diff --git a/macos/ScreenHandler.mm b/macos/ScreenHandler.mm
index b7075e6..6b0d30e 100644
--- a/macos/ScreenHandler.mm
+++ b/macos/ScreenHandler.mm
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #import "../common/commands.h"
 #import "Permissions.h"
 #import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>
+#import <chrono>
 #import <CoreGraphics/CoreGraphics.h>
 #import <ApplicationServices/ApplicationServices.h>
 #import <mach/mach_time.h>
@@ -104,6 +105,51 @@ bool ScreenHandler::init()
     m_currFrame.resize(m_bmpHeader.biSizeImage, 0);
     m_diffBuffer.resize(1 + 1 + 8 + 1 + m_bmpHeader.biSizeImage * 2);
 
+    // Wake display if needed (do this early, before sending TOKEN_BITMAPINFO)
+    bool wasAsleep = CGDisplayIsAsleep(m_displayID);
+    bool isLocked = false;
+    CFDictionaryRef sessionInfo = CGSessionCopyCurrentDictionary();
+    if (sessionInfo) {
+        CFBooleanRef screenLocked = (CFBooleanRef)CFDictionaryGetValue(
+            sessionInfo, CFSTR("CGSSessionScreenIsLocked"));
+        if (screenLocked && CFBooleanGetValue(screenLocked)) {
+            isLocked = true;
+        }
+        CFRelease(sessionInfo);
+    }
+
+    if (wasAsleep || isLocked) {
+        NSLog(@"Waking display in init (asleep=%d, locked=%d)...", wasAsleep, isLocked);
+
+        // Create NoDisplaySleep assertion - this wakes the display
+        if (m_displayAssertionID == 0) {
+            IOReturn result = IOPMAssertionCreateWithName(
+                kIOPMAssertionTypeNoDisplaySleep,
+                kIOPMAssertionLevelOn,
+                CFSTR("SimpleRemoter - remote desktop session active"),
+                &m_displayAssertionID
+            );
+            if (result == kIOReturnSuccess) {
+                NSLog(@"Display assertion created (ID: %u)", m_displayAssertionID);
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Declare user activity to ensure wake
+        IOPMAssertionID wakeAssertionID = 0;
+        IOPMAssertionDeclareUserActivity(
+            CFSTR("SimpleRemoter - waking display"),
+            kIOPMUserActiveLocal,
+            &wakeAssertionID
+        );
+        if (wakeAssertionID) {
+            IOPMAssertionRelease(wakeAssertionID);
+        }
+
+        // Brief wait for loginwindow to render
+        std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(500));
+        NSLog(@"Display wake complete");
+    }
+
     NSLog(@"ScreenHandler initialized: %dx%d", m_width, m_height);
     return true;
 }
@@ -116,7 +162,7 @@ void ScreenHandler::start(IOCPClient* client, uint64_t clientID)
     m_clientID = clientID;
     m_running = true;
 
-    // Prevent display sleep during remote desktop session
+    // Display wake was already done in init(), just ensure assertion exists
     if (m_displayAssertionID == 0) {
         IOReturn result = IOPMAssertionCreateWithName(
             kIOPMAssertionTypeNoDisplaySleep,
@@ -125,9 +171,7 @@ void ScreenHandler::start(IOCPClient* client, uint64_t clientID)
             &m_displayAssertionID
         );
         if (result == kIOReturnSuccess) {
-            NSLog(@"Display sleep disabled for remote desktop (ID: %u)", m_displayAssertionID);
-        } else {
-            NSLog(@"Warning: Failed to prevent display sleep (error: 0x%x)", result);
+            NSLog(@"Display sleep disabled (ID: %u)", m_displayAssertionID);
         }
     }