CRTV Pocket TV: How to Lock & Save Video Signals
The goal is saving video transmissions for the 18-signal Sweeping Signals collection - not enemy-tracking static. Players keep watching clips without storing them, and mixing up the two tuning bands.
The part everyone misses: watching a clip is not saving it. Sweep until the moving dot sits in the framed box, then press X (PS5) / E (PC) while the CRTV is still up. Only video recordings (Zoe, Richard, a building, a date) count toward the 18 - creature static does not. Progress on saved video channels carries between playthroughs.
1How the Pocket TV Actually Works
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1
Raise it only when you already have cover.
Hold L1 (PS5) or Tab (PC). Your view drops onto the glass and you lose peripheral vision - this is when runners hit you from the side.
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2
Two bands, two jobs.
Creature band: static hiss plus a new mark when something is close - flip with triggers / scroll wheel and point at a wall for a silhouette. Video band: actual recordings. Only video counts toward the 18.
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3
Store the signal.
Dot in the framed box → X / E while the CRTV is up. Put the set away without pressing it and the signal is not saved.
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4
Gyro and D-pad are two different puzzles.
First tilt the DualSense (or right stick) until colors stop sliding - that is "Align CRTV." Only then use the D-pad to drop R, G, B into their boxes - "Align RGB Signals." If motion fights you, disable Enable CRTV Motion Sensor controls in options.
2Decision Points
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| New hiss, no picture | Creature signal. Save only if you need the silhouette - it does not add to the 18. |
| Marker on the dial + a clip starts | Video signal. Stop and lock it immediately - some are missable in that chapter beat. |
| Radio or tuner on a table | Interact with the radio first, then fine-tune the CRTV. This is how the pharmacy and later rooms work. |
| A building or street on the glass | Treat it as direction + rough distance, then peek with R1 + right stick. It is not a minimap pin. |
| Several marks at once | Page one enemy at a time - "which frequency is which monster" is the awkward part. |
3Early Video Signals in Story Order
Channel numbers are approximate - use the marker on the frequency band, then complete the lock minigame.
- ~50Hotel room (Other Place / Escape), just under 50. Woman telling Simon he cannot stay.
- ~60Same room, just over 60. Calendar date January 18 - you need this plus the 1996 hotel menu year for the door dial.
- ~45Chapter start, Shorefront South / Connection.
- ~17Approaching Town Square / Searching for Zoe.
- ~30Pharmacy back room, via the table radio. Tilt until color drift stops, then D-pad the RGB into boxes. The clip shows the posters used for the locker code.
- ~63Right after leaving the clinic.
- ~25Apartments south of the Medical Centre.
Common Mistakes
- Watching a clip without pressing the store button.
- Counting enemy silhouettes toward the 18.
- Mixing gyro tilt and RGB D-pad on the same screen. They are two separate stages.
- Holding the set up in the open to "just scan real quick."
- Treating channel numbers as exact. Use the on-band marker, not 50 vs 51.
- Skipping radios in interiors. Several video locks only appear after interacting with the physical tuner.
▶Watch the Pharmacy RGB Step
Pharmacy signal: the two-stage tilt-then-D-pad lock: