diff --git a/src/avhw.rs b/src/avhw.rs
index abe118a..722c087 100644
--- a/src/avhw.rs
+++ b/src/avhw.rs
@@ -192,6 +192,18 @@ impl Drop for AvHwFrameCtx {
     }
 }
 
+/// Per-stage timing breakdown for one encode cycle on the hardware path.
+/// Returned by [`EncState::encode_frame`] so callers can fold the numbers
+/// into [`crate::stats::FrameTimings`]. `transfer_us` is always 0 on the HW
+/// path because the frame stays on the GPU; the SW path's struct (if added
+/// later) would carry a real readback measurement.
+#[derive(Debug, Default, Clone, Copy)]
+pub struct EncodeStages {
+    pub scale_us: u64,
+    pub transfer_us: u64,
+    pub encode_us: u64,
+}
+
 /// Test whether `drm_device` can import the PipeWire DMA-BUF frame via VAAPI.
 pub fn test_dma_buf_import(drm_device: &Path, frame: &PwDmaBufFrame) -> Result<()> {
     let hw_dev = AvHwDevCtx::new_vaapi(drm_device)?;
@@ -577,7 +589,7 @@ impl EncState {
         &self.frames_rgb
     }
 
-    pub fn encode_frame(&mut self, hw_frame: &ff::frame::Video) -> Result<()> {
+    pub fn encode_frame(&mut self, hw_frame: &ff::frame::Video) -> Result<EncodeStages> {
         let mut filter_src_ctx = self
             .video_filter
             .get("in")
@@ -589,11 +601,18 @@ impl EncState {
             .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("filter 'out' not found"))?;
         let mut filter_sink = filter_sink_ctx.sink();
 
+        // Scale stage = filter graph push + pull (scale_vaapi for resolution
+        // change + format conversion to NV12). Timed separately from the
+        // actual avcodec_send_frame so the per-stage stats answer "where is
+        // latency?" honestly. See Oracle audit 2026-06-28 step 4.
+        let scale_start = Instant::now();
         // SAFETY: hw_frame is a valid VAAPI hardware frame from capture.
         filter_src
             .add(hw_frame)
             .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("Filter source add failed: {e}"))?;
 
+        let mut scale_us = 0u64;
+        let mut encode_us = 0u64;
         loop {
             let mut filtered = ff::frame::Video::empty();
             match filter_sink.frame(&mut filtered) {
@@ -605,6 +624,11 @@ impl EncState {
                 Err(ff::Error::Other { errno }) if errno == ffi::EAGAIN => break,
                 Err(e) => bail!("Filter sink get frame failed: {e}"),
             }
+            // First successful pull closes the scale-stage measurement; later
+            // pulls (rare extras) roll into encode time.
+            if scale_us == 0 {
+                scale_us = scale_start.elapsed().as_micros() as u64;
+            }
 
             let pts = filtered.pts().unwrap_or(0);
             if self.starting_timestamp.is_none() {
@@ -612,6 +636,7 @@ impl EncState {
             }
             let start_ts = self.starting_timestamp.unwrap();
 
+            let encode_start = Instant::now();
             // SAFETY: avcodec_send_frame sends a valid NV12 VAAPI surface to the encoder.
             let ret =
                 unsafe { ffi::avcodec_send_frame(self.enc_video.as_mut_ptr(), filtered.as_ptr()) };
@@ -619,9 +644,15 @@ impl EncState {
                 bail!("avcodec_send_frame failed: {}", ff_err(ret));
             }
             self.drain_encoder(start_ts)?;
+            encode_us += encode_start.elapsed().as_micros() as u64;
         }
 
-        Ok(())
+        Ok(EncodeStages {
+            scale_us,
+            // HW path stays on GPU — no CPU readback, transfer is N/A.
+            transfer_us: 0,
+            encode_us,
+        })
     }
 
     pub fn flush(&mut self) -> Result<()> {
@@ -1562,9 +1593,25 @@ impl SwEncState {
         self.import.frames_rgb()
     }
 
-    pub fn encode_frame(&mut self, hw_frame: &ff::frame::Video) -> Result<()> {
+    pub fn encode_frame(&mut self, hw_frame: &ff::frame::Video) -> Result<EncodeStages> {
+        // SW path: import_and_scale bundles GPU filter graph (scale) + GPU→CPU
+        // readback (transfer) into one call. Timing them separately requires
+        // extending import_and_scale's signature; for now both roll into
+        // scale_us and transfer_us stays 0 with this comment as the honest
+        // statement. Oracle audit 2026-06-28 step 4.
+        let scale_start = Instant::now();
         let cpu_frame = self.import.import_and_scale(hw_frame)?;
-        self.encode.encode_cpu_frame(&cpu_frame).map(|_| ())
+        let scale_us = scale_start.elapsed().as_micros() as u64;
+
+        let encode_start = Instant::now();
+        self.encode.encode_cpu_frame(&cpu_frame)?;
+        let encode_us = encode_start.elapsed().as_micros() as u64;
+
+        Ok(EncodeStages {
+            scale_us,
+            transfer_us: 0,
+            encode_us,
+        })
     }
 
     pub fn flush(&mut self) -> Result<()> {
diff --git a/src/state.rs b/src/state.rs
index 5274221..eafcf53 100644
--- a/src/state.rs
+++ b/src/state.rs
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ impl StreamingEncoder {
         }
     }
 
-    fn encode_frame(&mut self, hw_frame: &ffmpeg_next::frame::Video) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    fn encode_frame(&mut self, hw_frame: &ffmpeg_next::frame::Video) -> anyhow::Result<crate::avhw::EncodeStages> {
         match self {
             StreamingEncoder::Mp4(enc) => enc.encode_frame(hw_frame),
             StreamingEncoder::WebRtc(enc) => enc.encode_frame(hw_frame),
@@ -626,15 +626,22 @@ impl<S: CaptureSource> State<S> {
         };
         if should_encode {
             let encode_start = Instant::now();
-            if let Err(e) = enc.encode_frame(&surface) {
-                tracing::error!("encode_frame failed: {}", e);
-                self.errored = true;
+            match enc.encode_frame(&surface) {
+                Ok(stages) => {
+                    let encode_elapsed = encode_start.elapsed().as_micros() as u64;
+                    self.stats.record_encode(&FrameTimings {
+                        scale_us: stages.scale_us,
+                        transfer_us: stages.transfer_us,
+                        encode_us: stages.encode_us,
+                        total_us: encode_elapsed,
+                        ..Default::default()
+                    });
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    tracing::error!("encode_frame failed: {}", e);
+                    self.errored = true;
+                }
             }
-            let encode_elapsed = encode_start.elapsed().as_micros() as u64;
-            self.stats.record_encode(&FrameTimings {
-                total_us: encode_elapsed,
-                ..Default::default()
-            });
         }
         self.stats_frames += 1;
         if let Some(last) = self.stats_last_time {
diff --git a/src/state_portal.rs b/src/state_portal.rs
index be77da5..2556cd1 100644
--- a/src/state_portal.rs
+++ b/src/state_portal.rs
@@ -494,7 +494,6 @@ impl StatePortal {
             }?;
 
             let import_us = t_import_start.elapsed().as_micros() as u64;
-            let t_encode_start = Instant::now();
 
             // 设置帧的显示时间戳（PTS），基于已编码帧序号
             // SAFETY: vaapi_frame is the freshly-imported valid AVFrame returned by
@@ -504,15 +503,17 @@ impl StatePortal {
             }
 
             // 送入编码器完成：缩放 → 回读 → 格式转换 → H.264 编码
-            enc.encode_frame(&vaapi_frame)?;
+            let stages = enc.encode_frame(&vaapi_frame)?;
             let total_us = t_import_start.elapsed().as_micros() as u64;
-            let encode_us = t_encode_start.elapsed().as_micros() as u64;
+            let encode_us = stages.encode_us;
 
             self.frames_encoded += 1;
 
-            // 记录帧计时到管道统计（import + encode 内部各阶段暂不可分离，用 total 覆盖）
+            // 记录帧计时到管道统计（scale 来自 filter graph；transfer 在 HW 路径恒为 0）
             let timings = FrameTimings {
                 import_us,
+                scale_us: stages.scale_us,
+                transfer_us: stages.transfer_us,
                 encode_us,
                 total_us,
                 ..Default::default()