diff --git a/packages/cli/src/background-removal/inference.ts b/packages/cli/src/background-removal/inference.ts
index ced409846..d0b3d8adb 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/background-removal/inference.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/background-removal/inference.ts
@@ -159,10 +159,16 @@ async function postprocess(
   }
 
   // lanczos3 keeps soft edges; nearest leaves visible jaggies on hair.
+  // Sharp upcasts the single-channel raw input to a 3-channel buffer during
+  // resize, so the output is laid out as RGB-interleaved (R0,G0,B0,R1,G1,B1,...)
+  // even though all three channels carry the same grayscale value. Force the
+  // output back to single channel with toColourspace("b-w") so we can index
+  // it linearly as a mask.
   const fullMask = await sharp(maskBuf, {
     raw: { width: INPUT_SIZE, height: INPUT_SIZE, channels: 1 },
   })
     .resize(width, height, { kernel: "lanczos3", fit: "fill" })
+    .toColourspace("b-w")
     .raw()
     .toBuffer();
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/background-removal/pipeline.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/background-removal/pipeline.test.ts
index 93a870c55..7bc5488a9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/background-removal/pipeline.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/background-removal/pipeline.test.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,35 @@ describe("background-removal/pipeline — buildEncoderArgs", () => {
     expect(args[args.length - 1]).toBe("/tmp/out.webm");
   });
 
+  it("webm preset tags BT.709 colorspace + limited range", () => {
+    // Without these tags, ffmpeg's RGB→YUV conversion uses the BT.601 default,
+    // and Chrome's YUV→RGB pass on the resulting webm produces a different
+    // RGB triple than the source mp4 (visible color shift on overlay). Pin
+    // BT.709 limited-range so the cutout matches modern Rec.709 sources.
+    const args = buildEncoderArgs("webm", 1920, 1080, 30, "/tmp/out.webm");
+    const csIdx = args.indexOf("-colorspace");
+    expect(csIdx).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    expect(args[csIdx + 1]).toBe("bt709");
+    const rangeIdx = args.indexOf("-color_range");
+    expect(rangeIdx).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    expect(args[rangeIdx + 1]).toBe("tv");
+  });
+
+  it("webm quality presets map to crf 30/18/12", () => {
+    const fast = buildEncoderArgs("webm", 1920, 1080, 30, "/tmp/o.webm", "fast");
+    const balanced = buildEncoderArgs("webm", 1920, 1080, 30, "/tmp/o.webm", "balanced");
+    const best = buildEncoderArgs("webm", 1920, 1080, 30, "/tmp/o.webm", "best");
+    const crf = (args: string[]) => args[args.indexOf("-crf") + 1];
+    expect(crf(fast)).toBe("30");
+    expect(crf(balanced)).toBe("18");
+    expect(crf(best)).toBe("12");
+  });
+
+  it("webm default quality is balanced (crf 18)", () => {
+    const args = buildEncoderArgs("webm", 1920, 1080, 30, "/tmp/o.webm");
+    expect(args[args.indexOf("-crf") + 1]).toBe("18");
+  });
+
   it("mov preset emits ProRes 4444 + yuva444p10le", () => {
     const args = buildEncoderArgs("mov", 1920, 1080, 30, "/tmp/out.mov");
     expect(args).toContain("prores_ks");
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/background-removal/pipeline.ts b/packages/cli/src/background-removal/pipeline.ts
index c5a7e774e..03ce3cb63 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/background-removal/pipeline.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/background-removal/pipeline.ts
@@ -20,11 +20,28 @@ import { type Device, type ModelId } from "./manager.js";
 
 export type OutputFormat = "webm" | "mov" | "png";
 
+export type Quality = "fast" | "balanced" | "best";
+
+export const QUALITIES: readonly Quality[] = ["fast", "balanced", "best"] as const;
+
+export const QUALITY_CRF: Record<Quality, number> = {
+  fast: 30,
+  balanced: 18,
+  best: 12,
+};
+
+export const DEFAULT_QUALITY: Quality = "balanced";
+
+export const isQuality = (v: unknown): v is Quality =>
+  typeof v === "string" && (QUALITIES as readonly string[]).includes(v);
+
 export interface RenderOptions {
   inputPath: string;
   outputPath: string;
   device?: Device;
   model?: ModelId;
+  /** Encoder CRF preset for `.webm`. See `QUALITY_CRF`. Ignored for `.mov`/`.png`. */
+  quality?: Quality;
   onProgress?: (event: ProgressEvent) => void;
 }
 
@@ -100,6 +117,7 @@ export function buildEncoderArgs(
   height: number,
   fps: number,
   outputPath: string,
+  quality: Quality = DEFAULT_QUALITY,
 ): string[] {
   const base = [
     "-y",
@@ -123,7 +141,7 @@ export function buildEncoderArgs(
       "-b:v",
       "0",
       "-crf",
-      "30",
+      String(QUALITY_CRF[quality]),
       "-deadline",
       "good",
       "-row-mt",
@@ -132,6 +150,19 @@ export function buildEncoderArgs(
       "0",
       "-pix_fmt",
       "yuva420p",
+      // Tag the output as BT.709 limited range so browsers use the same
+      // YUV→RGB matrix the source video was encoded with. Without these tags
+      // ffmpeg's default RGB→YUV conversion is BT.601, which causes a visible
+      // color shift (red/skin tones in particular) when the matted overlay is
+      // composited over the original mp4.
+      "-colorspace",
+      "bt709",
+      "-color_primaries",
+      "bt709",
+      "-color_trc",
+      "bt709",
+      "-color_range",
+      "tv",
       "-metadata:s:v:0",
       "alpha_mode=1",
       "-an",
@@ -250,9 +281,20 @@ async function runPipeline(
   });
   const decoderExit = waitForExit(decoder, "ffmpeg decoder", () => decoderStderr);
 
-  const encoder = spawn("ffmpeg", buildEncoderArgs(format, width, height, fps || 30, outputPath), {
-    stdio: ["pipe", "ignore", "pipe"],
-  });
+  const encoder = spawn(
+    "ffmpeg",
+    buildEncoderArgs(
+      format,
+      width,
+      height,
+      fps || 30,
+      outputPath,
+      options.quality ?? DEFAULT_QUALITY,
+    ),
+    {
+      stdio: ["pipe", "ignore", "pipe"],
+    },
+  );
   let encoderStderr = "";
   encoder.stderr?.on("data", (d: Buffer) => {
     encoderStderr += d.toString();
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/remove-background.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/remove-background.ts
index e5258a7d1..cc942f67e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/remove-background.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/remove-background.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
 import * as clack from "@clack/prompts";
 import { c } from "../ui/colors.js";
 import { isDevice, DEVICES } from "../background-removal/manager.js";
+import { DEFAULT_QUALITY, QUALITIES, isQuality } from "../background-removal/pipeline.js";
 import type { Example } from "./_examples.js";
 
 export const examples: Example[] = [
@@ -23,6 +24,14 @@ export const examples: Example[] = [
     "Force CPU (skip CoreML/CUDA)",
     "hyperframes remove-background avatar.mp4 -o transparent.webm --device cpu",
   ],
+  [
+    "Smaller file at the cost of color match (text-behind-subject won't blend as cleanly)",
+    "hyperframes remove-background avatar.mp4 -o transparent.webm --quality fast",
+  ],
+  [
+    "Visually-lossless WebM (master / re-encode source)",
+    "hyperframes remove-background avatar.mp4 -o transparent.webm --quality best",
+  ],
   ["Show detected providers without rendering", "hyperframes remove-background --info"],
 ];
 
@@ -48,6 +57,11 @@ export default defineCommand({
       description: `Execution provider: ${DEVICES.join(", ")}`,
       default: "auto",
     },
+    quality: {
+      type: "string",
+      description: `Encoder quality preset for .webm output: ${QUALITIES.join(", ")} (default: ${DEFAULT_QUALITY}). Higher quality = closer color match when overlaying on the source mp4, larger file. Ignored for .mov / .png.`,
+      default: DEFAULT_QUALITY,
+    },
     info: {
       type: "boolean",
       description: "Print detected execution providers and exit (no render)",
@@ -81,6 +95,12 @@ export default defineCommand({
       );
       process.exit(1);
     }
+    if (!isQuality(args.quality)) {
+      console.error(
+        c.error(`Invalid --quality '${String(args.quality)}'. Use: ${QUALITIES.join(", ")}.`),
+      );
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
 
     const inputPath = resolve(args.input);
     const outputPath = resolve(args.output);
@@ -95,6 +115,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
         inputPath,
         outputPath,
         device: args.device,
+        quality: args.quality,
         onProgress: (event) => {
           if (event.kind === "info") {
             spin?.message(event.message);