The q parameter allows you to manually control the quality level of the output video by influencing its bitrate.

• q=1–100: Sets a quality level on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 100 (highest). The value maps linearly to the encoder’s constant quality scale, so file size depends on the content: complex footage produces larger files than simple footage at the same q.
• q=0 or no q parameter provided (default): The encoder automatically determines an optimal quality level based on the source content and desired output characteristics. This default mode offers a balanced trade-off between quality and file size without user intervention.

video-quality is an alias for q and behaves identically. Manual quality is ignored for HLS and DASH output (fm=hls, fm=dash), which always use automatic quality.