CompuServe Messages

Can you explain to me what a "buffered" monitor switchbox is. I've got a plain old switch box (my second, my first wore out in a week). Depending on how I turn the manual switch I get somewhat of a brief "light show" of various colored screens and sometimes I get a double-take (the image appears very briefly then the screen goes black and then the image reappears). Each time I switch I worry that I am causing harm to my monitor. Does a "buffered" monitor switchbox solve these problems?