diff --git a/Phpmodbus/ModbusMaster.php b/Phpmodbus/ModbusMaster.php
index a03229f..3d52268 100644
--- a/Phpmodbus/ModbusMaster.php
+++ b/Phpmodbus/ModbusMaster.php
@@ -48,7 +48,12 @@ class ModbusMaster {
   public $client_port = "502";
   public $status;
   public $timeout_sec = 5; // Timeout 5 sec
-  public $endianness = 0; // Endianness codding (little endian == 0, big endian == 1) 
+  public $endianness = 0;
+  /* 1: low byte first, low word first (little endian)
+   * 2: low byte first, high word first
+   * 3: high byte first, low word first (default, backward compatibility also 0)
+   * 4: high byte first, high word first (big endian)
+   */
   public $socket_protocol = "UDP"; // Socket protocol (TCP, UDP)
   
   /**
diff --git a/Phpmodbus/PhpType.php b/Phpmodbus/PhpType.php
index 5552e61..a46d055 100644
--- a/Phpmodbus/PhpType.php
+++ b/Phpmodbus/PhpType.php
@@ -229,21 +229,36 @@ private static function checkData($data) {
      * @param bool $endianness
      * @return int
      */
-    private static function combineBytes($data, $endianness) {
-        $value = 0;
-        // Combine bytes
-        if ($endianness == 0)
-            $value = (($data[3] & 0xFF)<<16) |
-                    (($data[2] & 0xFF)<<24) |
-                    (($data[1] & 0xFF)) |
-                    (($data[0] & 0xFF)<<8);
-        else
-            $value = (($data[3] & 0xFF)<<24) |
-                    (($data[2] & 0xFF)<<16) |
-                    (($data[1] & 0xFF)<<8) |
-                    (($data[0] & 0xFF));
-
-        return $value;
-    }
+	private static function combineBytes($data, $endianness) {
+		$value = 0;
+		// Combine bytes
+		switch($endianness) {
+			case 1:
+				$value = (($data[3] & 0xFF)<<24) |
+					(($data[2] & 0xFF)<<16) |
+					(($data[1] & 0xFF)<<8) |
+					(($data[0] & 0xFF));
+				break;
+			case 2:
+				$value = (($data[1] & 0xFF)<<24) |
+					(($data[0] & 0xFF)<<16) |
+					(($data[3] & 0xFF)<<8) |
+					(($data[2] & 0xFF));
+				break;
+			case 4:
+				$value = (($data[0] & 0xFF)<<24) |
+					(($data[1] & 0xFF)<<16) |
+					(($data[2] & 0xFF)<<8) |
+					(($data[3] & 0xFF));
+				break;
+			default:
+				$value = (($data[2] & 0xFF)<<24) |
+					(($data[3] & 0xFF)<<16) |
+					(($data[0] & 0xFF)<<8) |
+					(($data[1] & 0xFF));
+				break;
+		}
+		return $value;
+	}
 }
 ?>
\ No newline at end of file