diff --git a/crates/store/re_data_loader/src/lib.rs b/crates/store/re_data_loader/src/lib.rs
index ae3a1f0a30e7..f7f89cdba33a 100644
--- a/crates/store/re_data_loader/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/store/re_data_loader/src/lib.rs
@@ -471,6 +471,8 @@ pub const SUPPORTED_IMAGE_EXTENSIONS: &[&str] = &[
     "pbm", "pgm", "png", "ppm", "tga", "tif", "tiff", "webp",
 ];
 
+pub const SUPPORTED_DEPTH_IMAGE_EXTENSIONS: &[&str] = &["rvl", "png"];
+
 pub const SUPPORTED_VIDEO_EXTENSIONS: &[&str] = &["mp4"];
 
 pub const SUPPORTED_MESH_EXTENSIONS: &[&str] = &["glb", "gltf", "obj", "stl"];
@@ -492,6 +494,7 @@ pub fn supported_extensions() -> impl Iterator<Item = &'static str> {
         .iter()
         .chain(SUPPORTED_THIRD_PARTY_FORMATS)
         .chain(SUPPORTED_IMAGE_EXTENSIONS)
+        .chain(SUPPORTED_DEPTH_IMAGE_EXTENSIONS)
         .chain(SUPPORTED_VIDEO_EXTENSIONS)
         .chain(SUPPORTED_MESH_EXTENSIONS)
         .chain(SUPPORTED_POINT_CLOUD_EXTENSIONS)
diff --git a/crates/store/re_data_loader/src/loader_archetype.rs b/crates/store/re_data_loader/src/loader_archetype.rs
index 1283bc021f90..6354844dfc78 100644
--- a/crates/store/re_data_loader/src/loader_archetype.rs
+++ b/crates/store/re_data_loader/src/loader_archetype.rs
@@ -114,6 +114,14 @@ impl DataLoader for ArchetypeLoader {
                 entity_path,
                 contents.into_owned(),
             )?);
+        } else if crate::SUPPORTED_DEPTH_IMAGE_EXTENSIONS.contains(&extension.as_str()) {
+            re_log::debug!(?filepath, loader = self.name(), "Loading depth image…",);
+            rows.extend(load_depth_image(
+                &filepath,
+                timepoint,
+                entity_path,
+                contents.into_owned(),
+            )?);
         } else if crate::SUPPORTED_VIDEO_EXTENSIONS.contains(&extension.as_str()) {
             re_log::debug!(?filepath, loader = self.name(), "Loading video…",);
             rows.extend(load_video(
@@ -191,6 +199,35 @@ fn load_image(
     Ok(rows.into_iter())
 }
 
+fn load_depth_image(
+    filepath: &std::path::Path,
+    timepoint: TimePoint,
+    entity_path: EntityPath,
+    contents: Vec<u8>,
+) -> Result<impl ExactSizeIterator<Item = Chunk> + use<>, DataLoaderError> {
+    re_tracing::profile_function!();
+
+    let rows = [{
+        let mut arch = re_sdk_types::archetypes::EncodedDepthImage::from_file_contents(contents);
+
+        if let Ok(format) = image::ImageFormat::from_path(filepath) {
+            arch = arch.with_media_type(format.to_mime_type());
+        } else if filepath
+            .extension()
+            .and_then(|ext| ext.to_str())
+            .is_some_and(|ext| ext.to_lowercase() == "rvl")
+        {
+            arch = arch.with_media_type(re_sdk_types::components::MediaType::RVL);
+        }
+
+        Chunk::builder(entity_path)
+            .with_archetype(RowId::new(), timepoint, &arch)
+            .build()?
+    }];
+
+    Ok(rows.into_iter())
+}
+
 fn load_video(
     filepath: &std::path::Path,
     mut timepoint: TimePoint,
diff --git a/crates/store/re_sdk_types/src/archetypes/encoded_depth_image_ext.rs b/crates/store/re_sdk_types/src/archetypes/encoded_depth_image_ext.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..20adf43fd048
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/store/re_sdk_types/src/archetypes/encoded_depth_image_ext.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+use super::EncodedDepthImage;
+
+impl EncodedDepthImage {
+    /// Creates a new depth image from the file contents at `path`.
+    ///
+    /// The [`MediaType`][crate::components::MediaType] will first be guessed from the file contents.
+    ///
+    /// Returns an error if the file cannot be read.
+    #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn from_file(filepath: impl AsRef<std::path::Path>) -> std::io::Result<Self> {
+        let filepath = filepath.as_ref();
+        let contents = std::fs::read(filepath)?;
+        Ok(Self::from_file_contents(contents))
+    }
+
+    /// Construct a depth image given the encoded content of some image file, e.g. a PNG or RVL.
+    ///
+    /// [`Self::media_type`] will be guessed from the bytes.
+    pub fn from_file_contents(bytes: Vec<u8>) -> Self {
+        #[cfg(feature = "image")]
+        {
+            if let Some(media_type) = image::guess_format(&bytes)
+                .ok()
+                .map(|format| crate::components::MediaType::from(format.to_mime_type()))
+            {
+                return Self::new(bytes).with_media_type(media_type);
+            }
+        }
+
+        Self::new(bytes)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/store/re_sdk_types/src/archetypes/mod.rs b/crates/store/re_sdk_types/src/archetypes/mod.rs
index fa18ea0435d7..4de6062810fd 100644
--- a/crates/store/re_sdk_types/src/archetypes/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/store/re_sdk_types/src/archetypes/mod.rs
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ mod depth_image_ext;
 mod ellipsoids3d;
 mod ellipsoids3d_ext;
 mod encoded_depth_image;
+mod encoded_depth_image_ext;
 mod encoded_image;
 mod encoded_image_ext;
 mod geo_line_strings;