diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-format.c b/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-format.c
index 45e3cb774..a8c0857a6 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-format.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-format.c
@@ -36,6 +36,204 @@
 
 #include "cogl-pixel-format.h"
 
+/* An entry to map CoglPixelFormats to their respective properties */
+typedef struct _CoglPixelFormatInfo
+{
+  CoglPixelFormat cogl_format;
+  const char *format_str;
+  int bpp;                         /* Bytes per pixel                 */
+  int aligned;                     /* Aligned components? (-1 if n/a) */
+} CoglPixelFormatInfo;
+
+static const CoglPixelFormatInfo format_info_table[] = {
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ANY,
+    .format_str = "ANY",
+    .bpp = 0,
+    .aligned = -1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_A_8,
+    .format_str = "A_8",
+    .bpp = 1,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGB_565,
+    .format_str = "RGB_565",
+    .bpp = 2,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_4444,
+    .format_str = "RGBA_4444",
+    .bpp = 2,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_5551,
+    .format_str = "RGBA_5551",
+    .bpp = 2,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_YUV,
+    .format_str = "YUV",
+    .bpp = 0,
+    .aligned = -1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_G_8,
+    .format_str = "G_8",
+    .bpp = 1,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RG_88,
+    .format_str = "RG_88",
+    .bpp = 2,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGB_888,
+    .format_str = "RGB_888",
+    .bpp = 3,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_BGR_888,
+    .format_str = "BGR_888",
+    .bpp = 3,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_8888,
+    .format_str = "RGBA_8888",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_BGRA_8888,
+    .format_str = "BGRA_8888",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ARGB_8888,
+    .format_str = "ARGB_8888",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ABGR_8888,
+    .format_str = "ABGR_8888",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_1010102,
+    .format_str = "RGBA_1010102",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_BGRA_1010102,
+    .format_str = "BGRA_1010102",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ARGB_2101010,
+    .format_str = "ARGB_2101010",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ABGR_2101010,
+    .format_str = "ABGR_2101010",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_8888_PRE,
+    .format_str = "RGBA_8888_PRE",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_BGRA_8888_PRE,
+    .format_str = "BGRA_8888_PRE",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ARGB_8888_PRE,
+    .format_str = "ARGB_8888_PRE",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ABGR_8888_PRE,
+    .format_str = "ABGR_8888_PRE",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_4444_PRE,
+    .format_str = "RGBA_4444_PRE",
+    .bpp = 2,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_5551_PRE,
+    .format_str = "RGBA_5551_PRE",
+    .bpp = 2,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_1010102_PRE,
+    .format_str = "RGBA_1010102_PRE",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_BGRA_1010102_PRE,
+    .format_str = "BGRA_1010102_PRE",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ARGB_2101010_PRE,
+    .format_str = "ARGB_2101010_PRE",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_ABGR_2101010_PRE,
+    .format_str = "ABGR_2101010_PRE",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 0
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_DEPTH_16,
+    .format_str = "DEPTH_16",
+    .bpp = 2,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_DEPTH_32,
+    .format_str = "DEPTH_32",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+  {
+    .cogl_format = COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_DEPTH_24_STENCIL_8,
+    .format_str = "DEPTH_24_STENCIL_8",
+    .bpp = 4,
+    .aligned = 1
+  },
+};
+
 /*
  * Returns the number of bytes-per-pixel of a given format. The bpp
  * can be extracted from the least significant nibble of the pixel
@@ -59,12 +257,15 @@
 int
 _cogl_pixel_format_get_bytes_per_pixel (CoglPixelFormat format)
 {
-  int bpp_lut[] = { 0, 1, 3, 4,
-                    2, 2, 2, 0,
-                    1, 2, 0, 0,
-                    3, 4, 0, 0 };
+  size_t i;
 
-  return bpp_lut [format & 0xf];
+  for (i = 0; i < G_N_ELEMENTS (format_info_table); i++)
+    {
+      if (format_info_table[i].cogl_format == format)
+        return format_info_table[i].bpp;
+    }
+
+  g_assert_not_reached ();
 }
 
 /* Note: this also refers to the mapping defined above for
@@ -72,18 +273,38 @@ _cogl_pixel_format_get_bytes_per_pixel (CoglPixelFormat format)
 gboolean
 _cogl_pixel_format_is_endian_dependant (CoglPixelFormat format)
 {
-  int aligned_lut[] = { -1, 1,  1,  1,
-                         0, 0,  0, -1,
-                         1, 1, -1, -1,
-                         0, 0, -1, -1};
-  int aligned = aligned_lut[format & 0xf];
-
-  g_return_val_if_fail (aligned != -1, FALSE);
+  int aligned = -1;
+  size_t i;
 
   /* NB: currently checking whether the format components are aligned
    * or not determines whether the format is endian dependent or not.
    * In the future though we might consider adding formats with
    * aligned components that are also endian independant. */
 
+  for (i = 0; i < G_N_ELEMENTS (format_info_table); i++)
+    {
+      if (format_info_table[i].cogl_format == format)
+        {
+          aligned = format_info_table[i].aligned;
+          break;
+        }
+    }
+
+  g_return_val_if_fail (aligned != -1, FALSE);
+
   return aligned;
 }
+
+const char *
+cogl_pixel_format_to_string (CoglPixelFormat format)
+{
+  size_t i;
+
+  for (i = 0; i < G_N_ELEMENTS (format_info_table); i++)
+    {
+      if (format_info_table[i].cogl_format == format)
+        return format_info_table[i].format_str;
+    }
+
+  g_assert_not_reached ();
+}
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-format.h b/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-format.h
index 09b5feff0..c2659fee0 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-format.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-format.h
@@ -284,6 +284,17 @@ _cogl_pixel_format_is_endian_dependant (CoglPixelFormat format);
 #define COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_CAN_HAVE_PREMULT(format) \
   (((format) & COGL_A_BIT) && (format) != COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_A_8)
 
+/**
+ * cogl_pixel_format_to_string:
+ * @format: a #CoglPixelFormat
+ *
+ * Returns a string representation of @format, useful for debugging purposes.
+ *
+ * Returns: (transfer none): A string representation of @format.
+ */
+const char *
+cogl_pixel_format_to_string (CoglPixelFormat format);
+
 G_END_DECLS
 
 #endif /* __COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_H__ */