diff --git a/helpers/timeline_view.py b/helpers/timeline_view.py
index 0b8f72a7..b52d95c6 100644
--- a/helpers/timeline_view.py
+++ b/helpers/timeline_view.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 
 import argparse
 import json
+import os
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import tempfile
@@ -31,6 +32,17 @@
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
 
 
+# Windows consoles default to cp1252, which raises UnicodeEncodeError when the
+# status prints below include a non-ASCII path (accents, emoji, CJK). Force
+# UTF-8 on stdout/stderr so this helper behaves identically on Windows, macOS,
+# and Linux. No-op where the stream is already UTF-8 or can't be reconfigured.
+for _stream in (sys.stdout, sys.stderr):
+    try:
+        _stream.reconfigure(encoding="utf-8")
+    except (AttributeError, ValueError):
+        pass
+
+
 # -------- Frame extraction ---------------------------------------------------
 
 
@@ -151,12 +163,21 @@ def find_silences(words: list[dict], start: float, end: float, threshold: float
 # -------- Font loading -------------------------------------------------------
 
 
+# Windows has no fixed font directory on C:, so derive it from %WINDIR%
+# (falls back to the default install path). Consolas mirrors the monospace
+# intent of Menlo/DejaVuSansMono; Arial is the sans fallback. Without these,
+# every candidate below misses on Windows and load_font drops to PIL's tiny
+# default bitmap font, rendering the filmstrip labels nearly illegibly.
+_WIN_FONTS = Path(os.environ.get("WINDIR", r"C:\Windows")) / "Fonts"
+
 FONT_CANDIDATES = [
     "/System/Library/Fonts/Menlo.ttc",
     "/System/Library/Fonts/Helvetica.ttc",
     "/System/Library/Fonts/SFNSMono.ttf",
     "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSansMono.ttf",
     "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/liberation/LiberationMono-Regular.ttf",
+    str(_WIN_FONTS / "consola.ttf"),  # Consolas — Windows monospace
+    str(_WIN_FONTS / "arial.ttf"),    # Arial — Windows sans fallback
 ]
 
 
diff --git a/helpers/transcribe.py b/helpers/transcribe.py
index 26d3906e..28356be9 100644
--- a/helpers/transcribe.py
+++ b/helpers/transcribe.py
@@ -27,6 +27,17 @@
 import requests
 
 
+# Windows consoles default to cp1252, which raises UnicodeEncodeError when the
+# status prints below include a non-ASCII video filename (accents, emoji, CJK).
+# Force UTF-8 on stdout/stderr so this helper behaves identically on Windows,
+# macOS, and Linux. No-op where the stream is already UTF-8 or can't reconfigure.
+for _stream in (sys.stdout, sys.stderr):
+    try:
+        _stream.reconfigure(encoding="utf-8")
+    except (AttributeError, ValueError):
+        pass
+
+
 SCRIBE_URL = "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/speech-to-text"
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_timeline_fonts.py b/tests/test_timeline_fonts.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a23a25c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_timeline_fonts.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+r"""Regression test for cross-platform font selection in timeline_view.py.
+
+Bug: FONT_CANDIDATES listed only macOS and Linux font paths. On Windows every
+candidate failed Path.exists(), so load_font fell through to PIL's default
+bitmap font (which ignores the requested size), rendering the filmstrip labels
+nearly illegibly. Fix: add Windows candidates derived from %WINDIR%\Fonts
+(Consolas + Arial). These tests pin the candidate list and the env-derived
+font dir, and confirm load_font always returns a usable font — on any host.
+"""
+import os
+import sys
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+HELPERS_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / "helpers"
+sys.path.insert(0, str(HELPERS_DIR))
+import timeline_view  # noqa: E402
+
+
+class FontCandidatesTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_windows_fonts_present(self):
+        # Both Windows fallbacks must be in the candidate list, under a Fonts dir.
+        names = [Path(c).name.lower() for c in timeline_view.FONT_CANDIDATES]
+        self.assertIn("consola.ttf", names)
+        self.assertIn("arial.ttf", names)
+        for c in timeline_view.FONT_CANDIDATES:
+            if Path(c).name.lower() in ("consola.ttf", "arial.ttf"):
+                self.assertEqual(Path(c).parent.name, "Fonts")
+
+    def test_macos_and_linux_fonts_still_present(self):
+        # The fix must not drop the original POSIX candidates.
+        joined = " ".join(timeline_view.FONT_CANDIDATES)
+        self.assertIn("/System/Library/Fonts/Menlo.ttc", joined)
+        self.assertIn("DejaVuSansMono.ttf", joined)
+
+    def test_win_fonts_dir_respects_windir(self):
+        # The Windows font dir is derived from %WINDIR%, not hardcoded to C:.
+        windir = os.environ.get("WINDIR", r"C:\Windows")
+        self.assertEqual(timeline_view._WIN_FONTS, Path(windir) / "Fonts")
+
+    def test_load_font_never_raises(self):
+        # load_font must return a usable font object on any host, falling back
+        # to PIL's default only when no candidate file exists.
+        font = timeline_view.load_font(14)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(font)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()