diff --git a/backend/app/config.py b/backend/app/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b0ff0c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings
+from pydantic import ConfigDict
+from typing import Optional
+
+
+class Settings(BaseSettings):
+    """Application configuration from environment variables"""
+
+    model_config = ConfigDict(
+        env_file=".env",
+        env_file_encoding="utf-8",
+        case_sensitive=False
+    )
+
+    # FFmpeg and recording settings
+    ffmpeg_path: str = "/usr/bin/ffmpeg"
+    recording_dir: str = "/recordings"
+
+    # Deltacast hardware settings
+    deltacast_port_count: int = 4
+
+    # SRT streaming settings
+    srt_enabled: bool = True
+    srt_latency: int = 5000  # milliseconds
+
+    # Server settings
+    port: int = 8000
+    log_level: str = "INFO"