Custom Views File/Image Field Handler - Return Base64 Contents

Thanks for the amazing module! I'm trying to use the following combination:

• views
• services
• services_views

I need to return the image/file base64 encoded. Currently, I'm using views_php to do a node_load() to get the full list of fields, from which I load the file contents and convert it to base64. I have to use node_load() because the variable $row does not contain values before being rendered. A lot of people are having similar issues:
http://drupal.org/node/1140896
http://drupal.org/node/1061388
including VSD (Views Drupal Services):
http://drupal.org/node/1301246#comment-6422428

I would like to write a new views field handler for this specific case so that I don't have to call node_load on every single row just to get the FID / File URI. It looks like files are using the:
views_handler_field_entity.inc

Should I try to extend this handler, or create a copy of it and start modifying it from there?