diff --git a/src/config.cpp b/src/config.cpp
index 6892e3029..33e0d37a7 100644
--- a/src/config.cpp
+++ b/src/config.cpp
@@ -490,6 +490,9 @@ namespace config {
 
     {
       false,  // strict_rc_buffer
+      -1,  // h264_quality (driver default; AMD vendor receives 0 below)
+      -1,  // hevc_quality
+      -1,  // av1_quality
     },  // vaapi
 
     {},  // capture
@@ -1176,6 +1179,9 @@ namespace config {
     int_f(vars, "vt_realtime", video.vt.vt_realtime, vt::rt_from_view);
 
     bool_f(vars, "vaapi_strict_rc_buffer", video.vaapi.strict_rc_buffer);
+    int_f(vars, "vaapi_h264_quality", video.vaapi.h264_quality);
+    int_f(vars, "vaapi_hevc_quality", video.vaapi.hevc_quality);
+    int_f(vars, "vaapi_av1_quality", video.vaapi.av1_quality);
 
     string_f(vars, "capture", video.capture);
     string_f(vars, "encoder", video.encoder);
diff --git a/src/config.h b/src/config.h
index a6d7c8338..1ceb45877 100644
--- a/src/config.h
+++ b/src/config.h
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ namespace config {
 
     struct {
       bool strict_rc_buffer;
+      int h264_quality;  ///< VAAPI ffmpeg -quality preset (h264). -1 = driver default; on AMD, 0 = best, higher = faster.
+      int hevc_quality;  ///< VAAPI ffmpeg -quality preset (hevc). -1 = driver default; on AMD, 0 = best, higher = faster.
+      int av1_quality;  ///< VAAPI ffmpeg -quality preset (av1). -1 = driver default; on AMD, 0 = best, higher = faster.
     } vaapi;
 
     std::string capture;
diff --git a/src/platform/linux/vaapi.cpp b/src/platform/linux/vaapi.cpp
index adaa07075..04b3de96a 100644
--- a/src/platform/linux/vaapi.cpp
+++ b/src/platform/linux/vaapi.cpp
@@ -239,6 +239,26 @@ namespace va {
         BOOST_LOG(info) << "Using normal encoding mode"sv;
       }
 
+      // Apply VAAPI quality preset. ffmpeg's -quality knob is "higher = faster".
+      // On AMD VCN the slowest preset (0) is still well under typical frame budgets
+      // even at 4K, so default to best image quality for AMD when the user hasn't
+      // overridden it. Other vendors (Intel iHD, etc.) receive driver default.
+      int quality = -1;
+      if (ctx->codec_id == AV_CODEC_ID_HEVC) {
+        quality = config::video.vaapi.hevc_quality;
+      } else if (ctx->codec_id == AV_CODEC_ID_H264) {
+        quality = config::video.vaapi.h264_quality;
+      } else if (ctx->codec_id == AV_CODEC_ID_AV1) {
+        quality = config::video.vaapi.av1_quality;
+      }
+      if (quality < 0 && vendor && strstr(vendor, "AMD")) {
+        quality = 0;
+      }
+      if (quality >= 0) {
+        BOOST_LOG(info) << "Using VAAPI quality preset: "sv << quality;
+        av_dict_set_int(options, "quality", quality, 0);
+      }
+
       VAConfigAttrib rc_attr = {VAConfigAttribRateControl};
       auto status = vaGetConfigAttributes(va_display, va_profile, va_entrypoint, &rc_attr, 1);
       if (status != VA_STATUS_SUCCESS) {