diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/codec.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/codec.rs
index b9ba5493..e87227ab 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/codec.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/codec.rs
@@ -249,9 +249,16 @@ impl Codec {
     }
 }
 
-/// Static capabilities an [`Encoder`] declares so the session glue routes loss-recovery and HDR
-/// plumbing by *query* rather than relying on a method's no-op/`false` default. Cheap `Copy`; fixed
-/// for the session (an HDR toggle re-initialises the encoder — re-query if that matters).
+/// Static capabilities an [`Encoder`] declares so the session glue routes loss-recovery and
+/// cursor plumbing by *query* rather than relying on a method's no-op/`false` default. Cheap
+/// `Copy`; fixed for the session (an HDR toggle re-initialises the encoder — re-query if that
+/// matters).
+///
+/// (There is deliberately NO `supports_hdr_metadata` cap: in-band HDR SEI/OBU embedding needs no
+/// host-side routing — every first-party client reads the static grade exclusively out-of-band
+/// (the native 0xCE datagram / the GameStream 0x010e control message), both planes send it
+/// unconditionally, and the in-band grade is a decoder-side bonus for stock clients. A cap field
+/// nothing reads is a contract nobody honors; it was deleted after shipping write-only.)
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, Default, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub struct EncoderCaps {
     /// The encoder can perform real reference-frame invalidation — i.e.
@@ -261,10 +268,6 @@ pub struct EncoderCaps {
     /// AMF (user-LTR force-reference, when the driver accepted the LTR slots at open). The
     /// libavcodec paths (Linux NVENC, VAAPI, QSV) can't express it and always keyframe.
     pub supports_rfi: bool,
-    /// The encoder emits in-band HDR mastering/CLL SEI from [`set_hdr_meta`](Encoder::set_hdr_meta).
-    /// When `false`, `set_hdr_meta` is a no-op and no in-band grade reaches the client. Only the
-    /// Windows direct-NVENC path attaches it today.
-    pub supports_hdr_metadata: bool,
     /// The opened encoder is actually producing a full-chroma 4:4:4 (`chroma_format_idc = 3`) stream.
     /// `false` on every 4:2:0 session (the default) and on a backend that declined 4:4:4. Set by the
     /// NVENC backends (Linux + Windows). The chroma is committed to the wire (`Welcome::chroma_format`)
@@ -333,11 +336,10 @@ pub trait Encoder: Send {
         let _ = wire_index;
         self.submit(frame)
     }
-    /// This encoder's static [capabilities](EncoderCaps) (RFI, HDR SEI), so the session glue can
-    /// route by query rather than rely on the no-op/`false` defaults of
-    /// [`invalidate_ref_frames`](Self::invalidate_ref_frames) / [`set_hdr_meta`](Self::set_hdr_meta).
-    /// Default: no optional capabilities (the SDR / libavcodec backends) — only the direct-NVENC
-    /// path overrides it.
+    /// This encoder's static [capabilities](EncoderCaps) (RFI, intra-refresh, chroma, cursor
+    /// blending), so the session glue can route by query rather than rely on the no-op/`false`
+    /// defaults of methods like [`invalidate_ref_frames`](Self::invalidate_ref_frames).
+    /// Default: no optional capabilities (the software / libavcodec backends).
     fn caps(&self) -> EncoderCaps {
         EncoderCaps::default()
     }
@@ -345,10 +347,12 @@ pub trait Encoder: Send {
     /// reference-frame-invalidation request). Default: no-op.
     fn request_keyframe(&mut self) {}
     /// Set the source's static HDR mastering metadata (from the capturer). An HDR encoder emits it
-    /// as in-band SEI (`mastering_display_colour_volume` + `content_light_level_info`) on each
-    /// keyframe so any decoder — including stock Moonlight — tone-maps from the source's real grade.
-    /// Default: no-op (SDR encoders / libavcodec paths that don't attach it yet). Cheap to call
-    /// every frame; only the direct-NVENC path consumes it.
+    /// in-band (HEVC/H.264 `mastering_display_colour_volume` + `content_light_level_info` SEI, or
+    /// AV1 metadata OBUs) on keyframes so a stock decoder — e.g. stock Moonlight — tone-maps from
+    /// the source's real grade. Default: no-op (SDR encoders / paths that don't attach it).
+    /// Cheap to call every frame; consumed by Windows direct-NVENC, native AMF, and native QSV.
+    /// Every first-party client reads the grade out-of-band (the 0xCE datagram) regardless, so
+    /// this is a bonus for stock decoders, never the primary channel.
     fn set_hdr_meta(&mut self, _meta: Option<punktfunk_core::quic::HdrMeta>) {}
     /// Invalidate a contiguous range of previously-encoded reference frames (client frame numbers
     /// — WIRE frame indexes, the domain [`submit_indexed`](Self::submit_indexed) pins the encoder's
diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/nvenc_cuda.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/nvenc_cuda.rs
index 82db0401..2899ee0b 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/nvenc_cuda.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/linux/nvenc_cuda.rs
@@ -1850,7 +1850,6 @@ impl Encoder for NvencCudaEncoder {
             // Composites `frame.cursor` via the SPIR-V blend over the Vulkan-allocated input slot.
             blends_cursor: true,
             supports_rfi: self.rfi_supported,
-            supports_hdr_metadata: self.hdr,
             chroma_444: self.chroma_444,
             intra_refresh: false,
             intra_refresh_recovery: false,
diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/amf.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/amf.rs
index ecfc28d1..8f72cdf2 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/amf.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/amf.rs
@@ -2014,9 +2014,6 @@ impl Encoder for AmfEncoder {
             // frame, force a later one to re-reference it). True only when the live driver accepted
             // the LTR slots at open — otherwise loss recovery falls back to a full IDR.
             supports_rfi: self.ltr_active,
-            // In-band mastering/CLL via `*InHDRMetadata` (HEVC SEI / AV1 metadata OBU); AVC has
-            // no such property (and no HDR sessions negotiate H.264).
-            supports_hdr_metadata: self.ten_bit && self.props.hdr_metadata.is_some(),
             // Permanent: VCN hardware does not encode 4:4:4.
             chroma_444: false,
             // True only when `PUNKTFUNK_INTRA_REFRESH` asked for the wave AND the live driver
@@ -2715,10 +2712,6 @@ mod tests {
             }
         };
         enc.set_hdr_meta(Some(sample_hdr_meta()));
-        assert!(
-            enc.caps().supports_hdr_metadata,
-            "HEVC 10-bit reports HDR SEI capability"
-        );
         let mut aus: Vec<EncodedFrame> = Vec::new();
         for i in 0..6 {
             let frame = CapturedFrame {
diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/nvenc.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/nvenc.rs
index 94ae666d..9957f7ef 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/nvenc.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/nvenc.rs
@@ -1690,17 +1690,14 @@ impl Encoder for NvencD3d11Encoder {
     }
 
     fn caps(&self) -> EncoderCaps {
-        // RFI is probed once at open (`rfi_supported`); HDR SEI rides keyframes whenever the
-        // session is in HDR mode. Both are the real capabilities the session glue routes on.
+        // RFI is probed once at open (`rfi_supported`) — the real capability the session glue
+        // routes on. (In-band HDR SEI needs no cap: it rides keyframes on HEVC/H.264 HDR
+        // sessions — see `submit` — and every first-party client reads the grade out-of-band
+        // via the 0xCE datagram regardless.)
         EncoderCaps {
             // The Windows capture path composites the pointer; this backend never reads `frame.cursor`.
             blends_cursor: false,
             supports_rfi: self.rfi_supported,
-            // In-band mastering/CLL is attached as keyframe SEI on HEVC/H.264 only — AV1 carries
-            // it in METADATA OBUs (`HDR_MDCV`/`HDR_CLL`), which this backend doesn't emit yet
-            // (see `submit`); the grade still reaches punktfunk clients out-of-band via the 0xCE
-            // datagram. Don't claim a capability the AV1 path doesn't have.
-            supports_hdr_metadata: self.hdr && self.codec != Codec::Av1,
             // Reflects what the session actually configured (cleared in `query_caps` if the GPU lacks
             // YUV444 encode), so the glue can confirm 4:4:4 vs the negotiated request.
             chroma_444: self.chroma_444,
diff --git a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/qsv.rs b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/qsv.rs
index fd12af75..ed49a1d1 100644
--- a/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/qsv.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-encode/src/enc/windows/qsv.rs
@@ -1471,9 +1471,6 @@ impl Encoder for QsvEncoder {
             // As Windows NVENC: the capturer composites; this backend never reads `frame.cursor`.
             blends_cursor: false,
             supports_rfi: self.ltr_active,
-            // In-band mastering/CLL at IDR (HEVC prefix SEI / AV1 metadata OBU); AVC sessions
-            // are never HDR.
-            supports_hdr_metadata: self.ten_bit && self.codec != Codec::H264,
             chroma_444: false,
             intra_refresh: self.ir_active,
             // Unvalidated on-glass — the host keeps the IDR recovery path until then.