diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7f09f5d..4d908c7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+- Automatic selection of the most suitable pixel format for the output video.
+
 ### Fixed
 
 - Timestamp errors processing frames with PTS equal to 0 (#1222).
diff --git a/include/libvideo2x/avutils.h b/include/libvideo2x/avutils.h
index 2135e2f..59cb46c 100644
--- a/include/libvideo2x/avutils.h
+++ b/include/libvideo2x/avutils.h
@@ -7,4 +7,7 @@ extern "C" {
 
 int64_t get_video_frame_count(AVFormatContext *ifmt_ctx, int in_vstream_idx);
 
+enum AVPixelFormat
+get_encoder_default_pix_fmt(const AVCodec *encoder, AVPixelFormat target_pix_fmt);
+
 #endif  // AVUTILS_H
diff --git a/src/avutils.cpp b/src/avutils.cpp
index b036f0b..798ae22 100644
--- a/src/avutils.cpp
+++ b/src/avutils.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 #include "avutils.h"
 
+extern "C" {
+#include <libavcodec/avcodec.h>
+#include <libavutil/pixdesc.h>
+}
+
 #include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
 
 int64_t get_video_frame_count(AVFormatContext *ifmt_ctx, int in_vstream_idx) {
@@ -48,3 +53,68 @@ int64_t get_video_frame_count(AVFormatContext *ifmt_ctx, int in_vstream_idx) {
     // Estimate and return the total number of frames
     return static_cast<int64_t>(duration_secs * fps);
 }
+
+enum AVPixelFormat
+get_encoder_default_pix_fmt(const AVCodec *encoder, AVPixelFormat target_pix_fmt) {
+    int ret;
+    char errbuf[AV_ERROR_MAX_STRING_SIZE];
+
+    // Retrieve the list of supported pixel formats
+    const enum AVPixelFormat *supported_pix_fmts = nullptr;
+    ret = avcodec_get_supported_config(
+        nullptr, encoder, AV_CODEC_CONFIG_PIX_FORMAT, 0, (const void **)&supported_pix_fmts, nullptr
+    );
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        av_strerror(ret, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf));
+        spdlog::error("Failed to get supported pixel formats: {}", errbuf);
+        return AV_PIX_FMT_NONE;
+    }
+
+    if (supported_pix_fmts == nullptr) {
+        if (target_pix_fmt == AV_PIX_FMT_NONE) {
+            spdlog::warn("Encoder supports all pixel formats; defaulting to yuv420p");
+            return AV_PIX_FMT_YUV420P;
+        } else {
+            spdlog::warn("Encoder supports all pixel formats; defaulting to the decoder's format");
+            return target_pix_fmt;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Determine if the target pixel format has an alpha channel
+    const AVPixFmtDescriptor *desc = nullptr;
+    int has_alpha = 0;
+    if (target_pix_fmt != AV_PIX_FMT_NONE) {
+        desc = av_pix_fmt_desc_get(target_pix_fmt);
+        has_alpha = desc ? (desc->nb_components % 2 == 0) : 0;
+    }
+
+    // Iterate over supported pixel formats to find the best match
+    enum AVPixelFormat best_pix_fmt = AV_PIX_FMT_NONE;
+    for (const enum AVPixelFormat *p = supported_pix_fmts; *p != AV_PIX_FMT_NONE; p++) {
+        if (target_pix_fmt != AV_PIX_FMT_NONE) {
+            best_pix_fmt =
+                av_find_best_pix_fmt_of_2(best_pix_fmt, *p, target_pix_fmt, has_alpha, nullptr);
+            if (*p == target_pix_fmt) {
+                best_pix_fmt = target_pix_fmt;
+                break;
+            }
+        } else {
+            best_pix_fmt = *p;
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+    if (best_pix_fmt == AV_PIX_FMT_NONE) {
+        spdlog::error("No suitable pixel format found for encoder");
+    }
+
+    if (target_pix_fmt != AV_PIX_FMT_NONE && best_pix_fmt != target_pix_fmt) {
+        spdlog::warn(
+            "Incompatible pixel format '%s' for encoder '%s'; auto-selecting format '%s'",
+            av_get_pix_fmt_name(target_pix_fmt),
+            encoder->name,
+            av_get_pix_fmt_name(best_pix_fmt)
+        );
+    }
+
+    return best_pix_fmt;
+}
diff --git a/src/encoder.cpp b/src/encoder.cpp
index 6826c6b..78d4f9d 100644
--- a/src/encoder.cpp
+++ b/src/encoder.cpp
@@ -5,19 +5,15 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <cstdint>
 
+extern "C" {
+#include <libavutil/pixdesc.h>
+}
+
 #include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
 
+#include "avutils.h"
 #include "conversions.h"
 
-static enum AVPixelFormat get_encoder_default_pix_fmt(const AVCodec *encoder) {
-    const enum AVPixelFormat *p = encoder->pix_fmts;
-    if (!p) {
-        spdlog::error("No pixel formats supported by encoder");
-        return AV_PIX_FMT_NONE;
-    }
-    return *p;
-}
-
 int init_encoder(
     AVBufferRef *hw_ctx,
     std::filesystem::path out_fpath,
@@ -86,12 +82,12 @@ int init_encoder(
         // Use the specified pixel format
         codec_ctx->pix_fmt = encoder_config->pix_fmt;
     } else {
-        // Fall back to the default pixel format
-        codec_ctx->pix_fmt = get_encoder_default_pix_fmt(encoder);
+        codec_ctx->pix_fmt = get_encoder_default_pix_fmt(encoder, dec_ctx->pix_fmt);
         if (codec_ctx->pix_fmt == AV_PIX_FMT_NONE) {
             spdlog::error("Could not get the default pixel format for the encoder");
             return AVERROR(EINVAL);
         }
+        spdlog::debug("Auto-selected pixel format: {}", av_get_pix_fmt_name(codec_ctx->pix_fmt));
     }
 
     // Set the output video's time base
diff --git a/src/libvideo2x.cpp b/src/libvideo2x.cpp
index e56552b..812b8ac 100644
--- a/src/libvideo2x.cpp
+++ b/src/libvideo2x.cpp
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ extern "C" int process_video(
             cleanup();
             return -1;
     }
-    spdlog::info("Output video dimensions: {}x{}", output_width, output_height);
+    spdlog::debug("Output video dimensions: {}x{}", output_width, output_height);
 
     // Initialize output encoder
     encoder_config->out_width = output_width;