diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/renderChunk.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/renderChunk.ts
index 373a2719c..c3127cccd 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/renderChunk.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/renderChunk.ts
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ import {
 import { defaultLogger } from "../../logger.js";
 import { runEncodeStage } from "../render/stages/encodeStage.js";
 import { runCaptureStage } from "../render/stages/captureStage.js";
+import { resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport } from "../render/captureBeyondViewport.js";
 import {
   type ChunkSliceJson,
   type LockedRenderConfig,
@@ -480,6 +481,11 @@ export async function renderChunk(
           )
         : null;
 
+    const videoCaptureBeyondViewport = resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport(
+      planVideos?.videos.length ?? 0,
+      "software",
+    );
+
     // ── Per-chunk work + frames directories ──
     // Suffix workDir with pid + random bytes so concurrent invocations on
     // the SAME `(planDir, chunkIndex)` (e.g. a scheduler that double-fires
@@ -518,7 +524,9 @@ export async function renderChunk(
       // declare `data-composition-variables` leave this undefined and the
       // engine skips the `evaluateOnNewDocument` injection.
       variables: encoder.variables,
-      ...((planVideos?.videos.length ?? 0) > 0 ? { captureBeyondViewport: true } : {}),
+      ...(videoCaptureBeyondViewport !== undefined
+        ? { captureBeyondViewport: videoCaptureBeyondViewport }
+        : {}),
       // lock the BeginFrame warmup loop to a fixed iteration count so
       // `beginFrameTimeTicks` is host-independent. Only chunks ever set this.
       lockWarmupTicks: true,
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/captureBeyondViewport.test.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/captureBeyondViewport.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7b43c3c14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/captureBeyondViewport.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport } from "./captureBeyondViewport.js";
+
+describe("resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport", () => {
+  it("leaves no-video renders on the engine default", () => {
+    expect(resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport(0, "software")).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport(0, "hardware")).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("keeps video renders on the fast viewport-bound path under software rendering", () => {
+    expect(resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport(1, "software")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("preserves the beyond-viewport video workaround under hardware rendering", () => {
+    expect(resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport(1, "hardware")).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/captureBeyondViewport.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/captureBeyondViewport.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eaa7a3bda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/captureBeyondViewport.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+export type ResolvedBrowserGpuMode = "software" | "hardware";
+
+/**
+ * Native video surfaces can need Chrome's beyond-viewport compositor on
+ * hardware-accelerated captures, but that path is a full-surface software
+ * re-rasterization tax on SwiftShader/CPU render hosts.
+ */
+export function resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport(
+  videoCount: number,
+  browserGpuMode: ResolvedBrowserGpuMode,
+): boolean | undefined {
+  if (videoCount <= 0) return undefined;
+  return browserGpuMode === "hardware";
+}
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
index bb1dab9f2..3d66e53f5 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ import {
   LOW_MEMORY_TOTAL_MB_THRESHOLD,
   assertConfiguredFfmpegBinariesExist,
   type CapturePerfSummary,
+  resolveBrowserGpuMode,
+  resolveHeadlessShellPath,
 } from "@hyperframes/engine";
 import { join, dirname, resolve } from "path";
 import { randomUUID } from "crypto";
@@ -86,6 +88,7 @@ import { formatCaptureFrameName } from "../utils/paths.js";
 import { resolveEffectiveHdrMode } from "./render/hdrMode.js";
 import { buildRenderPerfSummary, pushWorkerDedupPerfs } from "./render/perfSummary.js";
 import { getCaptureStageBrowserConsole } from "./render/captureStageError.js";
+import { resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport } from "./render/captureBeyondViewport.js";
 import {
   type CaptureCalibrationSample,
   type CaptureCostEstimate,
@@ -1246,6 +1249,16 @@ export async function executeRenderJob(
     const framesDir = join(workDir, "captured-frames");
     if (!existsSync(framesDir)) mkdirSync(framesDir, { recursive: true });
 
+    const resolvedBrowserGpuMode = await resolveBrowserGpuMode(cfg.browserGpuMode, {
+      chromePath: resolveHeadlessShellPath(cfg),
+      browserTimeout: cfg.browserTimeout,
+    });
+    updateCaptureObservability({ browserGpuMode: resolvedBrowserGpuMode });
+    const videoCaptureBeyondViewport = resolveVideoCaptureBeyondViewport(
+      composition.videos.length,
+      resolvedBrowserGpuMode,
+    );
+
     const captureOptions: CaptureOptions = {
       width,
       height,
@@ -1254,7 +1267,9 @@ export async function executeRenderJob(
       quality: needsAlpha ? undefined : job.config.quality === "draft" ? 80 : 95,
       variables: job.config.variables,
       deviceScaleFactor,
-      ...(composition.videos.length > 0 ? { captureBeyondViewport: true } : {}),
+      ...(videoCaptureBeyondViewport !== undefined
+        ? { captureBeyondViewport: videoCaptureBeyondViewport }
+        : {}),
     };
     resolvedCaptureBeyondViewport =
       captureOptions.captureBeyondViewport ?? resolvedCaptureBeyondViewport;