1 files changed, 17 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/config.py b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/config.py
index 7351b1c..086d800 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/config.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/config.py
@@ -72,6 +72,15 @@ max_concurrent_uploads = 8
 # Set to false only if every viewer's client is known to decode HEVC itself.
 transcode_incompatible_video = true
 
+# Use the GPU for that re-encode when there is one that works — VA-API here,
+# Quick Sync or NVENC on Windows. Established by encoding 1080p and checking
+# the result, never guessed from the hardware, and ignored where the test
+# fails: this is on by default and the only reason to turn it off is a driver
+# that misbehaves in a way the test does not catch. On an Intel mini-PC it is
+# the difference between transcoding in real time and having to set
+# transcode_incompatible_video = false.
+hardware_video_encode = true
+
 # ICE candidate gathering. By default, virtual/VPN interfaces (Tailscale,
 # libvirt, Docker) are auto-excluded — a STUN request that can't reach the
 # server holds the WebRTC answer for 5 seconds.  Set this to restrict
@@ -180,6 +189,12 @@ class NodeConfig:
     # that already decode the source codec directly, since transcoding costs
     # real CPU per concurrent viewer, unlike the copy path.
     transcode_incompatible_video: bool = True
+    # Whether that re-encode may run on the GPU. See hwaccel.py: the capability
+    # is established by encoding and reading the result back, so `true` here
+    # means "use it if it works", never "assume it does". Off returns the node
+    # to libx264 on every stream, which is where it was before hardware
+    # encoding existed.
+    hardware_video_encode: bool = True
     # ICE candidate gathering: which network interfaces to include or exclude.
     # By default, virtual and VPN interfaces (Tailscale, libvirt, Docker) are
     # auto-excluded because a STUN request that can't reach the server holds
@@ -355,6 +370,8 @@ def load_config(path: Path = DEFAULT_CONFIG_PATH) -> Config:
             cfg.node.max_concurrent_uploads, "max_concurrent_uploads")
         cfg.node.transcode_incompatible_video = bool(
             nd.get("transcode_incompatible_video", cfg.node.transcode_incompatible_video))
+        cfg.node.hardware_video_encode = bool(
+            nd.get("hardware_video_encode", cfg.node.hardware_video_encode))
         ice_if = nd.get("ice_interfaces")
         if isinstance(ice_if, list):
             cfg.node.ice_interfaces = [str(s) for s in ice_if]