Slight lift
job_22204f6fb6844f30The range most edits actually live in.
ffmpeg -i https://cdn.rendobar.com/assets/examples/sample.mp4 -vf "eq=brightness=0.06:contrast=1.1" -t 5 out.mp4video filter
The FFmpeg eq filter
Adjusts brightness, contrast, saturation and gamma on the fly.
3 of 3 variants measured Measured 2026-08-20
The part that catches people
eq's brightness runs -1.0 to 1.0 while contrast runs -1000 to 1000 and saturation 0 to 3. The ranges are wildly different, so a value that is subtle on one parameter is destructive on another.
Measured, not described
Every row below is a real job. The same 1280x720 five-second H.264 source went through each variant, so the numbers are comparable to each other and to every other filter page on this site. Encode time is the FFmpeg step on its own, separated from the download and the upload.
| Variant | Encode | Output | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slight lift | 1090 ms | 558.3 KB · 1280x720 | $0.0025 |
| Saturation boost | 1003 ms | 555.4 KB · 1280x720 | $0.0025 |
| Gamma correction | 974 ms | 532.1 KB · 1280x720 | $0.0026 |
The exact commands
Saturation boost
job_096207ec5bac4ce81.0 is unchanged, 0 is greyscale.
ffmpeg -i https://cdn.rendobar.com/assets/examples/sample.mp4 -vf "eq=saturation=1.4" -t 5 out.mp4Gamma correction
job_441c59ff674343c0Lifts midtones without clipping highlights the way brightness does.
ffmpeg -i https://cdn.rendobar.com/assets/examples/sample.mp4 -vf "eq=gamma=1.2" -t 5 out.mp4How these numbers were produced
Each variant was submitted to the Rendobar API as an ffmpeg job against the same public source file, and the response was recorded verbatim. Encode time is the API's own per-step timing for the FFmpeg step. Output size is the byte count of the file the job produced. Cost is what the job was actually billed.
Nothing here was estimated, and the whole set is re-runnable, so if a figure looks wrong it can be checked rather than argued about. The 72 variants behind this filter reference cost $0.193082 in total to measure.
Frequently asked questions
What does the FFmpeg eq filter do?
Adjusts brightness, contrast, saturation and gamma on the fly.
What is the most common mistake with eq?
eq's brightness runs -1.0 to 1.0 while contrast runs -1000 to 1000 and saturation 0 to 3. The ranges are wildly different, so a value that is subtle on one parameter is destructive on another.
How long does eq take to run?
On a 1280x720 five-second H.264 source, the fastest variant on this page (Gamma correction) spent 974 ms inside FFmpeg. That figure is the encode step alone, measured separately from the download and the upload, so it is the filter's own cost rather than the round trip.
Do I need FFmpeg installed to use eq?
Not with Rendobar. Every command on this page ran through the Rendobar API against a URL, with no local FFmpeg install and no server. The job id next to each row is the real job that produced the numbers.
Other filters, measured the same way
scale Resizes video to a target width and height, with optional aspect-preserving arithmetic. crop Cuts a rectangle out of each frame, positioned from the top-left corner. fps Resamples video to a constant frame rate by duplicating or dropping frames. transpose Rotates video by 90 degree steps, optionally flipping as it goes. pad Adds bars around the frame to reach a target size without cropping the picture.
Run eq without installing FFmpeg
Every command on this page ran through the API against a URL. No binary, no server.