diff --git a/tools/gst-launch.1.in b/tools/gst-launch.1.in
index 829faf149f..ce6d45a3b1 100644
--- a/tools/gst-launch.1.in
+++ b/tools/gst-launch.1.in
@@ -72,8 +72,12 @@ section \fIenvironment variables\fR below for further information).
 .TP 8
 .B  \-\-gst\-debug=STRING
 A comma separated list of category_name:level pairs to specify debugging levels
-for each category. Level is in the range 0-5 where 0 will show no messages, and
-5 will show all messages. The wildcard * can be used to match category names.
+for each category. Level is in the range 0-9 where 0 will show no messages, and
+9 will show all messages. The wildcard * can be used to match category names.
+Note that the order of categories and levels is important, wildcards at the
+end may override levels set earlier. The log levels are: 1=ERROR, 2=WARNING,
+3=FIXME, 4=INFO, 5=DEBUG, 6=LOG, 7=TRACE, 9=MEMDUMP. Since GStreamer 1.2 one
+can also use the debug level names, e.g. \-\-gst\-debug=*sink:LOG
 
 Use \-\-gst\-debug\-help to show category names
 
@@ -83,8 +87,10 @@ GST_CAT:5,GST_ELEMENT_*:3,oggdemux:5
 .TP 8
 .B  \-\-gst\-debug\-level=LEVEL
 Sets the threshold for printing debugging messages.  A higher level
-will print more messages.  The useful range is 0-5, with the default
-being 0.
+will print more messages.  The useful range is 0-9, with the default
+being 0. Level 6 (LOG level) will show all information that is usually
+required for debugging purposes. Higher levels are only useful in very
+specific cases.
 .TP 8
 .B  \-\-gst\-debug\-no\-color
 \fIGStreamer\fP normally prints debugging messages so that the