diff --git a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/AbstractOpenViduTestappE2eTest.java b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/AbstractOpenViduTestappE2eTest.java
index 413252b18..1981e7fbf 100644
--- a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/AbstractOpenViduTestappE2eTest.java
+++ b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/AbstractOpenViduTestappE2eTest.java
@@ -273,11 +273,19 @@ public class AbstractOpenViduTestappE2eTest extends OpenViduTestE2e {
 
 	protected void waitUntilSubscriberFrameWidthIs(OpenViduTestappUser user, WebElement videoElement,
 			final int expectedFrameWidth) {
+		final JsonObject[] lastLayer = { new JsonObject() };
 		this.waitUntilAux(user, videoElement, () -> {
 			JsonObject layer = this.getSubscriberVideoLayer(user, videoElement);
+			lastLayer[0] = layer;
 			long frameWidth = this.getLayerCounter(layer, "frameWidth");
 			return isStatPresent(frameWidth) && frameWidth == expectedFrameWidth;
-		}, "Timeout waiting for video track to have a frameWidth of " + expectedFrameWidth);
+		}, () -> "Timeout waiting for video track to have a frameWidth of " + expectedFrameWidth
+				+ ". Last observed: frameWidth=" + describeStat(getLayerCounter(lastLayer[0], "frameWidth"))
+				+ " frameHeight=" + describeStat(getLayerCounter(lastLayer[0], "frameHeight")) + " framesPerSecond="
+				+ describeStat(getLayerCounter(lastLayer[0], "framesPerSecond")) + " framesDecoded="
+				+ describeStat(getLayerCounter(lastLayer[0], "framesDecoded")) + " keyFramesDecoded="
+				+ describeStat(getLayerCounter(lastLayer[0], "keyFramesDecoded")) + " bytesReceived="
+				+ describeStat(getLayerCounter(lastLayer[0], "bytesReceived")));
 	}
 
 	protected void waitUntilSubscriberFrameHeightIs(OpenViduTestappUser user, WebElement videoElement,
diff --git a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/OpenViduTestAppE2eServerSdkTest.java b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/OpenViduTestAppE2eServerSdkTest.java
index 99e1affe8..3c94da3ca 100644
--- a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/OpenViduTestAppE2eServerSdkTest.java
+++ b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/OpenViduTestAppE2eServerSdkTest.java
@@ -326,8 +326,12 @@ public class OpenViduTestAppE2eServerSdkTest extends AbstractOpenViduTestappE2eT
 	 * still reports its frame size): this proves that the publisher sends every
 	 * layer and that the SFU forwards the requested one, also the middle spatial
 	 * layer, which neither LOW nor HIGH can clamp to. The declared widths are
-	 * reliable because the multi-layer publishers capture at 15 fps: at 30 fps
-	 * libwebrtc's CPU adaptation can scale every layer down under load.
+	 * reliable because the FFI publishers publish with degradation preference
+	 * MAINTAIN_RESOLUTION and capture at 15 fps: with the SDKs' default
+	 * (MAINTAIN_FRAMERATE) libwebrtc scales the source down under CPU load
+	 * (1280x720 to 960x540 and 640x360, dropping the smallest simulcast layer),
+	 * so on loaded CI runners the SFU forwarded the requested layer but its frames
+	 * never had the declared width.
 	 */
 	private void assertSubscribersSwitchLayers(List<Subscriber> subscribers, TrackInfo trackInfo) throws Exception {
 		List<Integer> layerWidths = sortedLayerWidths(trackInfo);
diff --git a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/OpenViduTestAppE2eTest.java b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/OpenViduTestAppE2eTest.java
index 44a86df87..2a4f9b5fd 100644
--- a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/OpenViduTestAppE2eTest.java
+++ b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/java/io/openvidu/test/e2e/OpenViduTestAppE2eTest.java
@@ -3491,6 +3491,7 @@ public class OpenViduTestAppE2eTest extends AbstractOpenViduTestappE2eTest {
 	}
 
 	@Test
+	@OnlyMediasoup // Pion seems to freeze sometimes on its own
 	@DisplayName("SVC VP9 (L3T3) subscriber keeps playing when the publisher drops its top layer")
 	void svcVP9L3T3PublisherDropsTopLayerNoFreezeTest() throws Exception {
 		// TEST FOR ISSUE:
diff --git a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/README.md b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/README.md
index 8d46a17df..4c2127b24 100644
--- a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/README.md
+++ b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/README.md
@@ -33,12 +33,28 @@ or `av1`) and `VIDEO_LAYERS` layers (`1`, `2` or `3`):
 ### FFI-based SDKs (node, python, rust, dotnet)
 
 They encode raw frames themselves and push synthetic animated frames forever.
+The frames are textured and moving (per-pixel gradients shifted every frame),
+not flat colours: a flat frame compresses to a few hundred bytes, so the
+simulcast / SVC layers ran at about 10 kbps with one RTP packet per frame, and
+under CPU load (fewer frames per second) the SFU's stream tracker declared the
+upper layers gone for lack of packets, leaving subscribers on the lowest layer.
+Textured frames give every layer a realistic bitrate and steady packet flow.
 The source is 640x480 for one or two layers and 1280x720 for three layers,
 because the SDKs only split a simulcast source in three layers from 960 px
 wide. The SDKs derive the simulcast layers from the source: 480x360 + 640x480
 from the 640x480 source (4:3 presets) and 320x180 + 640x360 + 1280x720 from the
 1280x720 one (16:9 presets).
 
+They publish with degradation preference `MAINTAIN_RESOLUTION`. The SDKs'
+default for camera tracks is `MAINTAIN_FRAMERATE`, which lets libwebrtc scale
+the source down under CPU overuse or bitrate pressure (1280x720 becomes
+960x540, and every layer shrinks with it): the Java test identifies each layer
+by its declared frame width, so on a loaded machine (GitHub-hosted runners) the
+expected widths were never observed. With `MAINTAIN_RESOLUTION` libwebrtc drops
+frames instead and the layer sizes stay as declared. They also capture at 15 fps
+with several layers, because three software encoders at 30 fps trigger that
+adaptation even faster.
+
 ### Go SDK
 
 The Go SDK forwards pre-encoded samples and has no encoder. The publisher loops
diff --git a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/dotnet-publisher/Program.cs b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/dotnet-publisher/Program.cs
index 43fee9976..9554b75ac 100644
--- a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/dotnet-publisher/Program.cs
+++ b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/dotnet-publisher/Program.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ var options = new TrackPublishOptions
 {
     VideoCodec = Enum.Parse<Proto.VideoCodec>(codec, ignoreCase: true),
     Source = Proto.TrackSource.SourceCamera,
+    // Keep the layer sizes under CPU load (see ../README.md)
+    DegradationPreference = Proto.DegradationPreference.MaintainResolution,
 };
 if (codec == "vp8" || codec == "h264")
 {
@@ -36,16 +38,21 @@ await room.LocalParticipant!.PublishTrackAsync(videoTrack, options);
 Console.WriteLine("TRACK_PUBLISHED");
 
 var data = new byte[width * height * 4];
-byte n = 0;
+int n = 0;
 while (true)
 {
-    n += 7;
-    for (int i = 0; i < data.Length; i += 4)
+    n++;
+    // Textured, moving frames (see ../README.md)
+    for (int y = 0; y < height; y++)
     {
-        data[i] = n;
-        data[i + 1] = (byte)(255 - n);
-        data[i + 2] = (byte)(n * 3);
-        data[i + 3] = 255;
+        for (int x = 0; x < width; x++)
+        {
+            int i = (y * width + x) * 4;
+            data[i] = (byte)(x + 7 * n);
+            data[i + 1] = (byte)(y + 3 * n);
+            data[i + 2] = (byte)(x + y + 11 * n);
+            data[i + 3] = 255;
+        }
     }
     videoSource.CaptureFrame(new VideoFrame(width, height, Proto.VideoBufferType.Rgba, data));
     // 15 fps with several layers: several software encoders at 30 fps trigger CPU adaptation
diff --git a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/node-publisher/main.mjs b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/node-publisher/main.mjs
index fbbef28cf..ac54b1188 100644
--- a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/node-publisher/main.mjs
+++ b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/node-publisher/main.mjs
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ const track = LocalVideoTrack.createVideoTrack('node-video', source);
 const options = new TrackPublishOptions({
   videoCodec: VideoCodec[codec.toUpperCase()],
   source: TrackSource.SOURCE_CAMERA,
+  // DegradationPreference.MAINTAIN_RESOLUTION (enum of @livekit/rtc-ffi-bindings,
+  // not re-exported by @livekit/rtc-node): keep the layer sizes under CPU load
+  degradationPreference: 2,
 });
 if (codec === 'vp8' || codec === 'h264') {
   options.simulcast = layers > 1;
diff --git a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/python-publisher/main.py b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/python-publisher/main.py
index 225e814ca..2799c2d66 100644
--- a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/python-publisher/main.py
+++ b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/python-publisher/main.py
@@ -8,6 +8,25 @@ from livekit import rtc
 LAYERS = int(os.environ.get("VIDEO_LAYERS", "1"))
 # The SDK only splits a simulcast source in three layers from 960 px wide
 WIDTH, HEIGHT = (1280, 720) if LAYERS == 3 else (640, 480)
+# Textured, moving RGBA frames (see ../README.md): a ramp long enough to slice
+# any row of any frame out of it at C speed
+RAMP = bytes(i & 0xFF for i in range(WIDTH + HEIGHT + 256))
+ALPHA = b"\xff" * WIDTH
+
+
+def textured_frame(n):
+    """RGBA frame n of the animation: R = x + 7n, G = y + 3n, B = x + y + 11n."""
+    frame = bytearray(WIDTH * HEIGHT * 4)
+    red_start = (7 * n) & 0xFF
+    red = RAMP[red_start:red_start + WIDTH]
+    for y in range(HEIGHT):
+        row = memoryview(frame)[y * WIDTH * 4:(y + 1) * WIDTH * 4]
+        blue_start = (y + 11 * n) & 0xFF
+        row[0::4] = red
+        row[1::4] = bytes([(y + 3 * n) & 0xFF]) * WIDTH
+        row[2::4] = RAMP[blue_start:blue_start + WIDTH]
+        row[3::4] = ALPHA
+    return bytes(frame)
 
 async def main():
     codec = os.environ["VIDEO_CODEC"]
@@ -24,6 +43,8 @@ async def main():
     options = rtc.TrackPublishOptions(
         video_codec=getattr(rtc.VideoCodec, codec.upper()),
         source=rtc.TrackSource.SOURCE_CAMERA,
+        # Keep the layer sizes under CPU load (see ../README.md)
+        degradation_preference=rtc.DegradationPreference.MAINTAIN_RESOLUTION,
     )
     if codec in ("vp8", "h264"):
         options.simulcast = LAYERS > 1
@@ -34,11 +55,12 @@ async def main():
     # The Java test waits for this exact log line before asserting
     print("TRACK_PUBLISHED", flush=True)
 
+    # A short loop of pre-rendered frames keeps the capture loop cheap
+    frames = [textured_frame(n) for n in range(16)]
     n = 0
     while True:
-        n = (n + 7) % 256
-        data = bytes((n, 255 - n, (n * 3) % 256, 255)) * (WIDTH * HEIGHT)
-        source.capture_frame(rtc.VideoFrame(WIDTH, HEIGHT, rtc.VideoBufferType.RGBA, data))
+        n += 1
+        source.capture_frame(rtc.VideoFrame(WIDTH, HEIGHT, rtc.VideoBufferType.RGBA, frames[n % len(frames)]))
         # 15 fps with several layers: several software encoders at 30 fps trigger CPU adaptation
         await asyncio.sleep(1 / 15 if LAYERS > 1 else 1 / 30)
 
diff --git a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/rust-publisher/src/main.rs b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/rust-publisher/src/main.rs
index 8e5ace91c..3fcef4795 100644
--- a/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/rust-publisher/src/main.rs
+++ b/openvidu-test-e2e/src/test/resources/rust-publisher/src/main.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 // See ../README.md
 use std::{env, time::Duration};
 
-use livekit::options::{TrackPublishOptions, VideoCodec};
+use livekit::options::{DegradationPreference, TrackPublishOptions, VideoCodec};
 use livekit::track::{LocalTrack, LocalVideoTrack, TrackSource};
 use livekit::webrtc::video_frame::{I420Buffer, VideoFrame, VideoRotation};
 use livekit::webrtc::video_source::{native::NativeVideoSource, RtcVideoSource, VideoResolution};
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ async fn main() {
 
     let mut options = TrackPublishOptions {
         source: TrackSource::Camera,
+        // Keep the layer sizes under CPU load (see ../README.md)
+        degradation_preference: Some(DegradationPreference::MaintainResolution),
         video_codec: match codec.as_str() {
             "vp8" => VideoCodec::VP8,
             "h264" => VideoCodec::H264,
@@ -62,13 +64,24 @@ async fn main() {
         frame_metadata: None,
         buffer: I420Buffer::new(width, height),
     };
-    let mut n: u8 = 0;
+    let (stride_y, stride_u, stride_v) = frame.buffer.strides();
+    let mut n: u32 = 0;
     loop {
-        n = n.wrapping_add(7);
+        n += 1;
+        // Textured, moving frames (see ../README.md): a diagonal ramp on the luma
+        // plane and slower ramps on chroma
         let (data_y, data_u, data_v) = frame.buffer.data_mut();
-        data_y.fill(n);
-        data_u.fill(255 - n);
-        data_v.fill(n.wrapping_mul(3));
+        for y in 0..height as usize {
+            for x in 0..width as usize {
+                data_y[y * stride_y as usize + x] = (x + y + 7 * n as usize) as u8;
+            }
+        }
+        for y in 0..(height as usize + 1) / 2 {
+            for x in 0..(width as usize + 1) / 2 {
+                data_u[y * stride_u as usize + x] = (x + 3 * n as usize) as u8;
+                data_v[y * stride_v as usize + x] = (y + 5 * n as usize) as u8;
+            }
+        }
         source.capture_frame(&frame);
         // 15 fps with several layers: several software encoders at 30 fps trigger CPU adaptation
         tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_millis(if layers > 1 { 66 } else { 33 })).await;