What it does
Shows one creature at a time
A burst of static means new signals on the dial. Each creature is its own frequency: tune to it and its silhouette appears in the red static, with distance and orientation and nothing else. With several around, you flick between them on the D-pad, and it can be a little off on distance.
Plays the story
Eighteen channels carry short videos (extra story, or a clue about what is coming), and none is required to progress. Steam Deck HQ: the breathy voice and the static are their own kind of horror.
Solves a few puzzles
The pharmacy locker in Chapter 4 is the clearest case: the broadcast on channel 30 shows the order of the posters, and the code is 6539. That is about as far as the CRTV goes as a puzzle tool, and its direction-sensitive clues dry up later on.
Tuned by hand
On PS5 the gyroscope is on by default. One reviewer struggled with it at gamescom and found it easy at home; the option to switch it off is Enable CRTV Motion Sensor controls.
Two kinds of channel
The enemy-tracking channels and the video channels are different things. Sweeping Signals needs only the videos; the tracking channels do not count toward it. The reviews' complaint, that the CRTV matters less in the second half, is about the tracking: once you can beat the enemies, you stop checking.
How a signal is stored
Listen for the static
A hiss means something new is on the dial. Each story channel becomes available at a set point: some the moment a chapter starts, some after an event, such as taking the items from locker 17.
Tune to the channel
Turn the dial to the number given, roughly (the numbers are written as 50~, 63~), and press X when the tracking dot sits inside the box to store it.
For radio-tied signals, align the picture
Some channels only appear when you interact with a radio on a table. Steady the tilt with the right stick until the colours stop moving, then move the colours into their boxes with the D-pad.
Progress carries
Signals already seen count on later playthroughs, though the game does not show which you have.
The 18 signals by part
| # | Part · chapter | Channel | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 · Ch. 2 Escape | 50~ | The hotel room in A Different Place |
| 2 | 1 · Ch. 2 Escape | 60~ | The hotel room (one walkthrough page and EliteGuias say 62~) |
| 3 | 1 · Ch. 3 A Connection | 45~ | As the chapter starts |
| 4 | 1 · Ch. 4 Searching for Zoe | 17~ | Approaching the Town Square |
| 5 | 1 · Ch. 4 Searching for Zoe | 30 | The radio in the Pharmacy back room |
| 6 | 2 · Ch. 6 Journey to Medical | 63~ | Stepping out of the Clinic |
| 7 | 2 · Ch. 6 Journey to Medical | 25~ | The radio on the second floor of the apartment south of the Medical Centre |
| 8 | 3 · Ch. 8 Many Into One | 28~ | The radio past the crack, as Simon |
| 9 | 4 · Ch. 9 Begin Again | 61~ | The radio in the Clara Woods store |
| 10 | 4 · Ch. 10 Missing Parts | 62~ | After touching the pipe structure at the Strange Gate |
| 11 | 4 · Ch. 10 Missing Parts | 67~ | Inside the building left of CEG Staff Parking |
| 12 | 4 · Ch. 10 Missing Parts | 59~ | The radio left of the TV in 5 South Brae |
| 13 | 4 · Ch. 10 Missing Parts | 59~ | Right after emptying locker 17 |
| 14 | 4 · Ch. 10 Missing Parts | 29~ | Leaving 5 Upper Brae after the tapes |
| 15 | 4 · Ch. 10 Missing Parts | 65~ | Holding all three Mechanical Parts |
| 16 | 6 · Ch. 14 Fix This | 42~ | The radio by the Reference Sheet in the pillar room |
| 17 | 6 · Ch. 14 Fix This | 42~ | The radio in the pipe, in the room left of the ladder after the pillar puzzle |
| 18 | 6 · Ch. 15 Trying Again | 55~ | The radio by the bed past the JOE door |
Sweeping Signals
Silver. PowerPyx's by-type list counts eighteen, and the last one (channel 55 in the SWDP) is where it pops. GameRant, Vandal and EliteGuias count nineteen: the extra one is the radio in the CEG HQ security room in Chapter 11, at about 61 or 62, which PowerPyx's own Part 4 walkthrough lists too. Tune it when you are there: a signal cannot be picked up later, and if the trophy has not popped at the end, that is the one to suspect. Part 1 holds five; a pre-release piece counted four.
When you do not have it
Zoe has a pager instead (a compass-like gauge with dots that tracks several enemies at once but tells you nothing else), and some parts give a simple radar or no help whatsoever. The reviews call the stretches without the CRTV the most frightening in the game.
Cross-checked
Re-checked on 1 October 2026 and cross-checked on 22 September 2026 against the guides of PowerPyx, GameRant, Vandal, EliteGuias and games.gg, and the launch reviews at Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, IGN, PC Gamer, PlayStation Universe, Push Square, TheSixthAxis, VGC, GamingTrend and Steam Deck HQ. Whether the signal has a range, and whether tuning makes noise, is still not described anywhere. Not from a playthrough: cross-referenced against official developer announcements and verified community archives. Still to confirm in-game.