diff --git a/src/libcamera/pixelformats.cpp b/src/libcamera/pixelformats.cpp
index 1330dc5..16aa7e4 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pixelformats.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pixelformats.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 #include <libcamera/pixelformats.h>
+#include <string.h>
 
 /**
  * \file pixelformats.h
@@ -108,9 +109,30 @@ bool PixelFormat::operator<(const PixelFormat &other) const
  */
 std::string PixelFormat::toString() const
 {
-	char str[11];
-	snprintf(str, 11, "0x%08x", fourcc_);
-	return str;
+	if (fourcc_ == DRM_FORMAT_INVALID)
+		return "<INVALID>";
+
+	char fourcc[5] = { static_cast<char>(fourcc_ & 0x7f),
+			   static_cast<char>((fourcc_ >> 8) & 0x7f),
+			   static_cast<char>((fourcc_ >> 16) & 0x7f),
+			   static_cast<char>((fourcc_ >> 24) & 0x7f) };
+
+	for (unsigned int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
+		if (!isprint(fourcc[i]))
+			fourcc[i] = '.';
+	}
+
+	std::string formatString(fourcc);
+
+	if (fourcc_ & (1 << 31))
+		formatString += "-BE";
+
+	if (modifier_ == DRM_FORMAT_MOD_INVALID)
+		formatString += ":<INVALID> modifier";
+	else if (modifier_ == MIPI_FORMAT_MOD_CSI2_PACKED)
+		formatString += ":packed";
+
+	return formatString;
 }
 
 } /* namespace libcamera */
diff --git a/test/meson.build b/test/meson.build
index bd7da14..591d848 100644
--- a/test/meson.build
+++ b/test/meson.build
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ internal_tests = [
     ['message',                         'message.cpp'],
     ['object',                          'object.cpp'],
     ['object-invoke',                   'object-invoke.cpp'],
+    ['pixel-format',                    'pixel-format.cpp'],
     ['signal-threads',                  'signal-threads.cpp'],
     ['threads',                         'threads.cpp'],
     ['timer',                           'timer.cpp'],
diff --git a/test/pixel-format.cpp b/test/pixel-format.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84062b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pixel-format.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later */
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2020, Kaaira Gupta
+ * libcamera pixel format handling test
+ */
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "libcamera/pixelformats.h"
+
+#include "test.h"
+
+using namespace std;
+using namespace libcamera;
+
+class PixelFormatTest : public Test
+{
+protected:
+	int run()
+	{
+		std::vector<std::pair<PixelFormat, const char *>> formats{
+			{ PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_SRGGB8, DRM_FORMAT_MOD_INVALID), "RGGB:<INVALID> modifier" },
+			{ PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_SRGGB8, DRM_FORMAT_MOD_LINEAR), "RGGB" },
+			{ PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_C8, DRM_FORMAT_MOD_SAMSUNG_64_32_TILE), "C8  " },
+			{ PixelFormat(DRM_FORMAT_BIG_ENDIAN, MIPI_FORMAT_MOD_CSI2_PACKED), "....-BE:packed" }
+		};
+		for (const auto &format : formats) {
+			if ((format.first).toString() != format.second) {
+				cerr << "Failed to convert PixelFormat "
+				     << format.first.fourcc() << " to string"
+				     << endl;
+				return TestFail;
+			}
+		}
+
+		if (PixelFormat().toString() != "<INVALID>") {
+			cerr << "Failed to convert default PixelFormat to string"
+			     << endl;
+			return TestFail;
+		}
+
+		return TestPass;
+	}
+};
+
+TEST_REGISTER(PixelFormatTest)