answer:To me, it sounds like the switch is a way to save power. Normal TVs are always on and using power, even in the “off” state. This power is used for several things, one of which is listening for the remote to tell the TV to turn on. The switch seems to turn this functionality off, saving power. As for the question, turning off the switch should have the same effect as unplugging the television. In the short term, I do not see why there would be any harmful effects to the TV. However, I cannot be sure of this, so here is what I suggest: If you are going to be watching more tv that day, it is okay leave the switch on, because it doesn’t use a large amount of power. You should turn the switch off overnight and any time you won’t be watching more TV for several hours. More than ⅓ of a day * 365 days = a lot of time (over 100 days).