The fine folks at YouTube cited increased resolutions on consumer video recording devices as the impetus for the improvement.

Here's YouTube's example of a 360p image:

If you're not uploading videos from your phone, however, you're probably looking at something like YouTube's current HD setting, 720p:

And, by way of comparison, this is the new maximum resolution YouTube HD videos will have:

Those images are from YouTube. Why they chose a dog's muzzle, we may never know. But we're awfully grateful for the resolution improvements.

Also, users are specifically encouraged to upload videos that will showcase the capabilities of the new hotness that is 1080p resolution. YouTube engineer Billy Biggs tells users in the related blog post, "Be creative and choose subjects that really show off the beauty of your camera. We will run the best examples on our homepage in a future spotlight."

While it'll be nice to see our own classic jams restored to their original awesomeness, it will also be interesting to see professionally produced videos now appearing in better HD. Well done, YouTube, and thanks for allocating the resources.