diff --git a/services/playout/src/playout-manager.js b/services/playout/src/playout-manager.js
index 989c767..c846483 100644
--- a/services/playout/src/playout-manager.js
+++ b/services/playout/src/playout-manager.js
@@ -230,12 +230,19 @@ export class PlayoutManager {
       // logs "sliding 0.00 / MISSED", never loads a fragment, and the monitor
       // stays black even though the stream decodes cleanly server-side. A
       // standalone ffmpeg honours -force_key_frames, so every GOP (and thus
-      // every HLS segment) is exactly 2.0s. fps=30 forces CFR; scale to 720p
-      // keeps the confidence monitor cheap.
-      '-vf', 'fps=30,scale=-2:720,format=yuv420p',
-      '-c:v', 'libx264', '-preset', 'veryfast', '-tune', 'zerolatency',
-      '-b:v', '1500k', '-maxrate', '2M', '-bufsize', '4M',
-      '-g', '60', '-keyint_min', '60', '-sc_threshold', '0',
+      // every HLS segment) is exactly 2.0s.
+      //
+      // This is a CONFIDENCE MONITOR, kept deliberately tiny: 360p / 20fps /
+      // ultrafast. The sidecar has no NVENC, so this is a CPU libx264 encode
+      // running ALONGSIDE CasparCG's mixer + its own STREAM consumer. At 720p30
+      // the re-encode couldn't sustain real time, the UDP input overran, and the
+      // HLS output stalled (playlist froze → monitor black). 360p20 ultrafast is
+      // a fraction of the cost and keeps up comfortably. fps=20 forces CFR;
+      // -g 40 = 2.0s GOP at 20fps.
+      '-vf', 'fps=20,scale=-2:360,format=yuv420p',
+      '-c:v', 'libx264', '-preset', 'ultrafast', '-tune', 'zerolatency',
+      '-b:v', '600k', '-maxrate', '800k', '-bufsize', '1200k',
+      '-g', '40', '-keyint_min', '40', '-sc_threshold', '0',
       '-force_key_frames', 'expr:gte(t,n_forced*2)',
       '-f', 'hls',
       '-hls_time', '2',