diff --git a/src/kibana/components/config/defaults.js b/src/kibana/components/config/defaults.js
index 1af0fd1a15fd..b64fae5c7d6d 100644
--- a/src/kibana/components/config/defaults.js
+++ b/src/kibana/components/config/defaults.js
@@ -79,6 +79,42 @@ define(function (require) {
     'truncate:maxHeight': {
       value: 115,
       description: 'The maximum height that a cell in a table should occupy. Set to 0 to disable truncation.'
+    },
+    'deafultFormat:ip': {
+      value: 'string',
+      description: 'The default format to be used for fields of type ip.'
+    },
+    'deafultFormat:date': {
+      value: 'string',
+      description: 'The default format to be used for fields of type date.'
+    },
+    'deafultFormat:string': {
+      value: 'string',
+      description: 'The default format to be used for fields of type string.'
+    },
+    'deafultFormat:number': {
+      value: 'string',
+      description: 'The default format to be used for fields of type number.'
+    },
+    'deafultFormat:boolean': {
+      value: 'string',
+      description: 'The default format to be used for fields of type boolean.'
+    },
+    'deafultFormat:conflict': {
+      value: 'string',
+      description: 'The default format to be used for fields of type conflict.'
+    },
+    'deafultFormat:geo_point': {
+      value: 'string',
+      description: 'The default format to be used for fields of type geo_point.'
+    },
+    'deafultFormat:geo_shape': {
+      value: 'string',
+      description: 'The default format to be used for fields of type geo_shape.'
+    },
+    'deafultFormat:attachment': {
+      value: 'string',
+      description: 'The default format to be used for fields of type attachment.'
     }
   };
 });
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/kibana/components/index_patterns/_field_formats.js b/src/kibana/components/index_patterns/_field_formats.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 0b4efed93843..000000000000
--- a/src/kibana/components/index_patterns/_field_formats.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,175 +0,0 @@
-/**
-
-  ### Formatting a value
-  To format a response value, you need to get ahold of the field list, which is usually available at `indexPattern.fields`. Each field object has a `format` property*, which is an object detailed in [_field_formats.js](https://github.com/elastic/kibana4/blob/master/src/kibana/components/index_patterns/_field_formats.js).
-
-  Once you have the field that a response value came from, pass the value to `field.format.convert(value)` and a formatted string representation of the field will be returned.
-
-  \* the `format` property on field object's is a non-enumerable getter, meaning that if you itterate/clone/stringify the field object the format property will not be present.
-
-  ### Changing a field's format
-
-  Currently only one field format exists, `"string"`, which just [flattens any value down to a string](https://github.com/elastic/kibana4/blob/master/src/kibana/components/index_patterns/_field_formats.js#L18-L24).
-
-  To change the format for a specific field you can either change the default for a field type modify the [default format mapping here](https://github.com/elastic/kibana4/blob/master/src/kibana/components/index_patterns/_field_formats.js#L37-L46).
-
-  To change the format for a specific indexPattern's field, add the field and format name to `indexPattern.customFormats` object property.
-
-  ```js
-  $scope.onChangeFormat = function (field, format) {
-    indexPattern.customFormats[field.name] = format.name;
-  };
-  ```
-
-  ### Passing the formats to a chart
-  Currently, the [histogram formatter](https://github.com/elastic/kibana4/blob/master/src/plugins/visualize/saved_visualizations/resp_converters/histogram.js) passes the formatting function as the `xAxisFormatter` and `yAxisFormatter` function.
-
-*/
-
-define(function (require) {
-  return function FieldFormattingService($rootScope, config) {
-    var _ = require('lodash');
-    var angular = require('angular');
-    var moment = require('moment');
-
-    function stringConverter(val) {
-      return formatField(val, function (val) {
-        if (_.isObject(val)) {
-          return angular.toJson(val);
-        }
-        else if (val == null) {
-          return '';
-        }
-        else {
-          return '' + val;
-        }
-      });
-    }
-
-    var formats = [
-      {
-        types: [
-          'number',
-          'boolean',
-          'date',
-          'ip',
-          'attachment',
-          'geo_point',
-          'geo_shape',
-          'string',
-          'conflict'
-        ],
-        name: 'string',
-        convert: stringConverter
-      },
-      {
-        types: [
-          'date'
-        ],
-        name: 'date',
-        convert: function (val) {
-          return formatField(val, function (val) {
-            if (_.isNumber(val) || _.isDate(val)) {
-              return moment(val).format(config.get('dateFormat'));
-            } else {
-              return val;
-            }
-          });
-        }
-      },
-      {
-        types: [
-          'ip'
-        ],
-        name: 'ip',
-        convert: function (val) {
-          return formatField(val, function (val) {
-            if (!isFinite(val)) return val;
-            return [val >>> 24, val >>> 16 & 0xFF, val >>> 8 & 0xFF, val & 0xFF].join('.');
-          });
-        }
-      },
-      {
-        types: [
-          'number'
-        ],
-        name: 'kilobytes',
-        convert: function (val) {
-          return formatField(val, function (val) {
-            return (val / 1024).toFixed(config.get('format:numberPrecision')) + ' kb';
-          });
-        }
-      },
-      {
-        types: [
-          'number',
-          'murmur3'
-        ],
-        name: 'number',
-        convert: function (val) {
-          return formatField(val, function (val) {
-            if (_.isNumber(val)) {
-              return +val.toFixed(config.get('format:numberPrecision'));
-            } else {
-              return stringConverter(val);
-            }
-          });
-        }
-      }
-    ];
-
-    function formatField(value, fn) {
-      if (_.isArray(value)) {
-        if (value.length === 1) {
-          return fn(value[0]);
-        } else {
-          return angular.toJson(_.map(value, fn));
-        }
-      } else {
-        return fn(value);
-      }
-    }
-
-    formats.byType = _.transform(formats, function (byType, formatter) {
-      formatter.types.forEach(function (type) {
-        var list = byType[type] || (byType[type] = []);
-        list.push(formatter);
-      });
-    }, {});
-
-    formats.byName = _.indexBy(formats, 'name');
-
-    formats.defaultByType = {
-      number:     formats.byName.number,
-      murmur3:    formats.byName.number,
-      date:       formats.byName.date,
-      boolean:    formats.byName.string,
-      ip:         formats.byName.ip,
-      attachment: formats.byName.string,
-      geo_point:  formats.byName.string,
-      geo_shape:  formats.byName.string,
-      string:     formats.byName.string,
-      conflict:   formats.byName.string
-    };
-
-    /**
-     * Wrap the dateFormat.convert function in memoize,
-     * as moment is a huge performance issue if not memoized.
-     *
-     * @return {void}
-     */
-    function memoizeDateFormat() {
-      var format = formats.byName.date;
-      if (!format._origConvert) {
-        format._origConvert = format.convert;
-      }
-      format.convert = _.memoize(format._origConvert);
-    }
-
-    // memoize once config is ready, and every time the date format changes
-    $rootScope.$on('init:config', memoizeDateFormat);
-    $rootScope.$on('change:config.dateFormat', memoizeDateFormat);
-
-    return formats;
-  };
-});
diff --git a/src/kibana/components/index_patterns/index_patterns.js b/src/kibana/components/index_patterns/index_patterns.js
index facad694a406..ee48459cc57a 100644
--- a/src/kibana/components/index_patterns/index_patterns.js
+++ b/src/kibana/components/index_patterns/index_patterns.js
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ define(function (require) {
     self.intervals = Private(require('components/index_patterns/_intervals'));
     self.mapper = Private(require('components/index_patterns/_mapper'));
     self.patternToWildcard = Private(require('components/index_patterns/_pattern_to_wildcard'));
-    self.fieldFormats = Private(require('components/index_patterns/_field_formats'));
+    self.fieldFormats = Private(require('registry/field_formats'));
     self.IndexPattern = IndexPattern;
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/kibana/components/vis/_agg_config.js b/src/kibana/components/vis/_agg_config.js
index 8f412283b64a..09bd04857ee2 100644
--- a/src/kibana/components/vis/_agg_config.js
+++ b/src/kibana/components/vis/_agg_config.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 define(function (require) {
   return function AggConfigFactory(Private, fieldTypeFilter) {
     var _ = require('lodash');
-    var fieldFormats = Private(require('components/index_patterns/_field_formats'));
+    var fieldFormats = Private(require('registry/field_formats'));
 
     function AggConfig(vis, opts) {
       var self = this;
diff --git a/src/kibana/registry/field_formats.js b/src/kibana/registry/field_formats.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..50449b3e3d79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/kibana/registry/field_formats.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+define(function (require) {
+  var _ = require('lodash');
+
+  return require('registry/_registry')({
+    name: 'fieldFormats',
+    index: ['name'],
+    group: ['compatability'],
+
+    constructor: function (config) {
+      this.defaultForType = function (type) {
+        var name = config.get('deafultFormat:' + type);
+        return this.byName[name] || _.asString;
+      };
+    }
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/unit/specs/components/index_pattern/_field_formats.js b/test/unit/specs/components/index_pattern/_field_formats.js
deleted file mode 100644
index f53e8d9f04a0..000000000000
--- a/test/unit/specs/components/index_pattern/_field_formats.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,151 +0,0 @@
-define(function (require) {
-  return ['Field Formatters', function () {
-    var _ = require('lodash');
-    var moment = require('moment');
-
-    var _config;
-    var formatters;
-    var formatter;
-    var types = [
-      'number',
-      'boolean',
-      'date',
-      'ip',
-      'attachment',
-      'geo_point',
-      'geo_shape',
-      'murmur3',
-      'string',
-      'conflict'
-    ];
-
-    function formatFn(typeOrName) {
-      return (formatters.byName[typeOrName] || formatters.defaultByType[typeOrName]).convert;
-    }
-
-    beforeEach(module('kibana'));
-    beforeEach(inject(function (Private, $injector, config) {
-      _config = config;
-      formatters = Private(require('components/index_patterns/_field_formats'));
-    }));
-
-    it('should be an Object', function () {
-      expect(formatters).to.be.an(Object);
-    });
-
-    it('should have formatters indexed by type and by name', function () {
-      expect(formatters.byType).to.be.an(Object);
-      expect(formatters.byName).to.be.an(Object);
-    });
-
-    it('should have 1 or more formatters for each of ' + types.join(','), function () {
-      _.each(types, function (type) {
-        expect(formatters.byType[type]).to.be.an(Array);
-        _.each(formatters.byType[type], function (formatter) {
-          expect(formatter.convert).to.be.a(Function);
-        });
-      });
-    });
-
-    it('should expose default formatters for each type', function () {
-      _.each(types, function (type) {
-        expect(formatters.defaultByType[type]).to.be.an(Object);
-      });
-    });
-
-    describe('Array handling', function () {
-
-      it('should unwrap single item arrays', function () {
-        formatter = formatFn('string');
-        expect(formatter(['foo'])).to.not.be.an(Array);
-        expect(formatter(['foo'])).to.be('foo');
-      });
-
-      it('should stringify arrays longer than 1 element', function () {
-        formatter = formatFn('ip');
-        expect(formatter([0, 2130706433])).to.not.be.an(Array);
-        expect(formatter([0, 2130706433])).to.be('["0.0.0.0","127.0.0.1"]');
-      });
-    });
-
-
-    describe('string formatter', function () {
-
-      beforeEach(function () {
-        formatter = formatFn('string');
-      });
-
-      it('should the string value of the field', function () {
-        expect(formatter('foo')).to.be('foo');
-        expect(formatter(5)).to.be('5');
-      });
-
-      it('should return JSON for objects', function () {
-        expect(formatter({foo: true})).to.be('{"foo":true}');
-      });
-
-      it('should return an empty string for null', function () {
-        expect(formatter(null)).to.be('');
-      });
-
-    });
-
-    describe('date formatter', function () {
-
-      var dateFormat = 'YYYY-MM-DD';
-      beforeEach(function () {
-        _config.set('dateFormat', dateFormat);
-        formatter = formatFn('date');
-      });
-
-      it('should format numbers', function () {
-        expect(formatter(0)).to.be(moment(0).format(dateFormat));
-      });
-
-      it('should format dates', function () {
-        expect(formatter(new Date(0))).to.be(moment(0).format(dateFormat));
-      });
-
-      it('should not format strings', function () {
-        expect(formatter('2014-11')).to.be('2014-11');
-      });
-
-    });
-
-
-    describe('ip formatter', function () {
-
-      beforeEach(function () {
-        formatter = formatFn('ip');
-      });
-
-      it('should format numbers', function () {
-        expect(formatter(2130706433)).to.be('127.0.0.1');
-      });
-
-      it('should coerce numbers that are strings', function () {
-        expect(formatter('2130706433')).to.be('127.0.0.1');
-      });
-
-      it('should not coerce strings that are not numbers', function () {
-        expect(formatter('foo')).to.be('foo');
-      });
-
-    });
-
-    describe('kilobyte formatter', function () {
-      beforeEach(function () {
-        formatter = formatFn('kilobytes');
-      });
-
-      it('should be a function', function () {
-        expect(formatter).to.be.a(Function);
-      });
-
-      it('should format a number as kilobytes', function () {
-        expect(formatter(1024)).to.be('1.000 kb');
-      });
-    });
-
-  }];
-});
\ No newline at end of file