diff --git a/dimos/memory/codecs/jpeg.py b/dimos/memory/codecs/jpeg.py
index 8f1bf8625b..6e717adcec 100644
--- a/dimos/memory/codecs/jpeg.py
+++ b/dimos/memory/codecs/jpeg.py
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from dimos.msgs.sensor_msgs.Image import Image
+from dimos.msgs.sensor_msgs.Image import Image, ImageFormat
+
+DEPTH_FORMATS = (ImageFormat.DEPTH, ImageFormat.DEPTH16)
 
 
 class JpegCodec:
@@ -22,6 +24,12 @@ class JpegCodec:
 
     Uses ``Image.lcm_jpeg_encode/decode`` which preserves ``ts``, ``frame_id``,
     and all LCM header fields. Pixel data is lossy-compressed via TurboJPEG.
+
+    Depth frames are stored uncompressed instead. JPEG is 8-bit colour: a float32
+    metre map cannot be encoded at all, and a uint16 one would be rescaled to 8
+    bits and then lossy-compressed, quietly destroying the metric values a cloud
+    is unprojected from. The LCM envelope carries its own encoding, so both kinds
+    decode through the same path.
     """
 
     def __init__(self, quality: int = 50) -> None:
@@ -33,7 +41,9 @@ def payload_type(self) -> type[Image]:
         return Image
 
     def encode(self, value: Image) -> bytes:
+        if value.format in DEPTH_FORMATS:
+            return value.lcm_encode()
         return value.lcm_jpeg_encode(quality=self._quality)
 
     def decode(self, data: bytes) -> Image:
-        return Image.lcm_jpeg_decode(data)
+        return Image.lcm_decode(data)
diff --git a/dimos/memory/codecs/test_codecs.py b/dimos/memory/codecs/test_codecs.py
index 6c647bf110..b9e42f65fe 100644
--- a/dimos/memory/codecs/test_codecs.py
+++ b/dimos/memory/codecs/test_codecs.py
@@ -199,6 +199,31 @@ def test_different_values_produce_different_bytes(self, case: Case) -> None:
         assert len(set(encodings)) > 1, "All values encoded to identical bytes"
 
 
+class TestJpegCodecDepth:
+    """Depth shares the Image type with colour, so one codec has to carry both."""
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        ("dtype", "fmt"),
+        [("float32", ImageFormat.DEPTH), ("uint16", ImageFormat.DEPTH16)],
+    )
+    def test_depth_survives_the_roundtrip_exactly(self, dtype: str, fmt: ImageFormat) -> None:
+        """Lossy depth is not degraded depth, it is wrong geometry.
+
+        A JPEG'd metre map unprojects to a cloud in the wrong place, and the
+        float32 case does not even encode — it raises out of the recorder.
+        """
+        import numpy as np
+
+        metres = np.linspace(0.5, 6.0, 48 * 64).reshape(48, 64).astype(dtype)
+        depth = Image(data=metres, format=fmt, frame_id="head_optical", ts=1.0)
+
+        decoded = JpegCodec().decode(JpegCodec().encode(depth))
+
+        assert decoded.format == fmt
+        assert decoded.frame_id == "head_optical"
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(decoded.data, metres)
+
+
 class TestCodecFor:
     """codec_for() auto-selects the right codec."""