Silent Hill: How to Fine Tune CRTV Signals

Most CRTV recordings in Silent Hill come off the handheld unit while you walk. VHF transmissions do not. Those live on stationary radios, and each one drops you into the Fine Tuning minigame, where the frequency dial is only the first of three things you have to get right.

Quick answer: Interact with a VHF transceiver, dial in the base frequency until the screen reads CALIBRATION REQUIRED, straighten the test pattern by tilting the CRTV, align the RGB bars, then hold the store control.

When the CRTV needs fine tuning instead of normal tuning

Ordinary video signals only need the dial. You raise the CRTV in the right area, sweep the frequency slowly, and the picture locks in on its own once the indicator settles inside the reception window.

Tuning signal 01/02 — A plain handheld pickup: the CRTV locks Zoe's transmission out in the fog, with no calibration stage involved. Shown at 00:20 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Screen Burn

VHF transmissions are the ones the island’s residents actually use, and the handheld cannot resolve them by itself. You have to find the physical radio, tune as usual at that unit, and then correct the CRTV’s own position before the picture becomes watchable. The game explains this the first time you touch a transceiver, in a window headed CRTV – Fine Tuning.

Because these signals are tied to hardware rather than a location, the map is worth a look before you go hunting. In Chapter 4, the outdoor signal sits in the streets near the Shorefront Family Clinic, while the transceiver waits in a back office at roughly Channel 30.

Map check for signal 02/02 — The St. Amelia Waterfront District map, with the Shorefront clinic marked as the reference point for the surrounding streets. Shown at 00:28 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Screen Burn

Fine tuning controls on PC and controller

Stage	PC	Controller
Tune at the radio	E	Interact button
Sweep frequency fast	Q / E	Tuning control
Angle and roll	Mouse	Right stick or tilt
Colour channels	A / D	D-pad
Store calibration	Hold right click	Hold store button

On PS5, the CRTV’s tilt is mapped to the DualSense motion sensor by default, which makes the angle stage awkward if you play with the pad in your lap. Turning off Enable CRTV Motion Sensor Controls in the settings moves tilt over to the right stick.

How to fine tune a VHF signal

Walk up to the VHF transceiver and use the interact prompt on it. The units sit on desks and tables, usually beside notes or pamphlets, and the prompt reads E Tune rather than the usual examine option.

Locating VHF transceiver — The VHF transceiver on the back office desk, surrounded by notes and pamphlets — the interact prompt appears when you step up to it. Shown at 00:57 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Screen Burn

Read and dismiss the Fine Tuning window the first time it appears. It lays out the three parts of the process, and you close it with Continue (TAB on PC) to drop into the tuning view.

Fine Tuning tutorial — The one-off CRTV – Fine Tuning explanation, covering receiver angle, vertical roll, and colour channel calibration. Shown at 00:58 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Screen Burn

Work the tuning dial until you hit the transceiver’s base frequency. While you are off it, the display shows FINE TUNE - SEARCHING; when you land on it, the static resolves into a colour test pattern and the readout switches to CALIBRATION REQUIRED.

Move the CRTV itself to square up the picture. Tilt and rotate the unit to kill the diagonal skew and the vertical roll, and stop when the test card sits straight and still under the Align CRTV prompt.

Angle and roll alignment — The colour test pattern on the CRTV during the angle and roll stage; the bars stop drifting once the unit is held square. Shown at 01:33 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Screen Burn

Switch to Color Alignment and separate out the channels. Nudge each colour until it sits inside its matching frame, watching the Align RGB Signals meter fill and turn green as you close in.

Hold the store control once CALIBRATION COMPLETE appears. The on-screen prompt spells this out as HOLD TO STORE, and it has to be held rather than tapped.

The two alignment stages fight each other. If the colour bars start drifting again mid-way through the RGB step, the angle has slipped, so reset the tilt before touching the colours again.

CRTV screen labels and what each one means

On-screen text	What it means
FINE TUNE – SEARCHING	Base frequency is wrong; keep sweeping
CALIBRATION REQUIRED	Frequency found; alignment not done
Align CRTV	Angle and roll stage is active
Align RGB Signals	Colour meter; fill it green
CALIBRATION COMPLETE	Signal is ready to store

Treat CALIBRATION REQUIRED as the checkpoint. Seeing it means you can stop touching the dial entirely, and anything still wrong with the picture is down to the position of the device rather than the frequency.

How to tell the signal registered

A stored VHF signal plays its recording immediately. In the Chapter 4 case, that means a local medical spot titled Prescription Drugs and You, complete with the clinic’s consultation and blood pressure cards. If the clip runs, the channel is banked.

Storing and viewing broadcast — The stored transmission playing back: the clinic's "Prescription Drugs and You" information broadcast. Shown at 02:08 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Screen Burn

Each stored recording counts toward the 18 video signals tracked by the Sweeping Signals trophy. Channels that only exist to track enemies are not part of that count, and your signal progress carries between playthroughs, so a radio you never calibrated is the only one you need to come back for.

The recordings also do real work beyond collection. Numbers, calendars, and other details visible in stored footage feed directly into puzzles elsewhere in St. Amelia, which makes the calibration worth the fiddling the first time a transceiver stops you.