GoKawiilThe biggest downside to shutting down or switching off your TV is that you'll have to wait a couple of minutes or even longer the next time you turn it back on. Newer TVs now ship with full-fledged operating systems like LG's WebOS, Google TV, Amazon's Fire TV OS and Roku OS. Booting them can take about as long as powering on your smartphone. In fact, many TVs take longer to boot because they often ship with lower-end processors and storage chips than your typical flagship phone.
Boot times aside, smart TVs can also take advantage of standby mode to update their software in the background. While that may not sound like a big deal, imagine needing to wait a few minutes for your TV's operating system to update before you can watch content. Likewise, streaming apps like Netflix and YouTube receive frequent updates that can be completed in standby mode.
Finally, OLED TVs rely on standby mode for a critical function: panel maintenance. When you press the power button on an OLED TV remote, it enters standby and a feature known as automatic compensation cycle, or pixel-refresh often kicks in to reduce the risk of image retention or burn-in.
The latter is one of the biggest downsides to OLED displays, so manufacturers design these panel care features to run in standby mode. Shutting down or unplugging your TV immediately after a viewing session prevents this process from running. And if you repeatedly interrupt it, you could eventually notice uneven display wear or burn-in.