The game

What is the CRTV in Silent Hill: Townfall?

A pocket television that Simon uses to tune into unstable signals. It takes the place of the series’ radio. PlayStation describes how it is used on PS5; the same for PC is Not found.

How to read it: the icon is generic and the four numbers match the four paragraphs below, one per use. Each label is a PS5 use the sources describe. Original diagram for this site, not the in-game device.

First-person view of a handheld television with a fine-tune bar reading searching, above a desk of papers. — First-person view: a handheld television with a tuning bar, over a desk of papers. Screenshot from the game's Steam store page. Owned by Screen Burn, KONAMI and Annapurna Interactive.

The four uses, keyed to the diagram

Hold it up

“L1 lets you hold the CRTV up in front of you as you move around”, so you can see what it shows and the world at the same time. Said in PlayStation.Blog: 9 ways first person changes the formula

A pulse when a new enemy is near

The device gives a haptic pulse in the DualSense controller. PlayStation’s game page adds that haptics let you sense the footsteps of approaching enemies through the controller. Said in PlayStation.Blog: 9 ways first person changes the formula · Listed on PlayStation.com game page

Tuning, with motion controls on

“you’ll need to physically move and twist the controller to tune in”. McKellan says certain puzzles need the CRTV tilted, like holding a phone up to look for a signal, and PlayStation’s page says you can “rotate the CRTV with motion controls to solve puzzles”. Motion controls are a setting in the settings menu. Said in PlayStation.Blog: hands-on report · Said in PlayStation.Blog: the developers on the Scottish setting

Signals that show threats and clues

Nearby threats, story fragments and clues arrive through the signals, and the hands-on report says certain signals show monsters through walls and fog. How that changes a fight is on the combat page. Listed on Steam store page · Said in PlayStation.Blog: hands-on report

What the official copy says

“a pocket television used to tune into unstable signals”
From Steam store data (appdetails)

The Steam page also says “The iconic SILENT HILL radio makes a comeback as the CRTV, a portable television device”. McKellan says the change was there from the very start: “In the earliest stages, it was a standard radio”. The team then set itself a challenge to make the radio an active tool rather than a passive one, by turning it into a visual device where you watch video signals as well as hear audio. Said in PlayStation.Blog: the developers on the Scottish setting

PS5 against PC

How to read it: a filled dot means a source describes that use for the platform; a dashed ring is Not found. The gap is in the descriptions, not necessarily in the game. Original chart for this site.

On PC, Steam lists full controller support and DualSense support, and that is the only cell that is not empty. Not found: whether the PC version reads a DualSense’s gyro or haptics for any of the four uses, and what keyboard-and-mouse controls do for tuning. What would change this: a Steam-side controls description. The stores are on the PS5 page and the Steam page. Listed on Steam store data (appdetails)

The look of it, and where to see it

The pre-order bonus is cosmetic: the PlayStation Store says the styles change the CRTV’s appearance. Which styles come with which store is on the pre-order bonus page. Listed on PlayStation Store (US) PlayStation’s Features Trailer, linked from the trailer page, is listed there as showing how the PS5 features are used.

Not found: what the letters CRTV stand for, in any store, publisher or studio text. The view it is played from is on the first-person page.