diff --git a/src/p4p/nt/__init__.py b/src/p4p/nt/__init__.py
index e4af0489..dcc68cf6 100644
--- a/src/p4p/nt/__init__.py
+++ b/src/p4p/nt/__init__.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from ..wrapper import Type, Value
 from .common import timeStamp, alarm, NTBase
-from .scalar import NTScalar
+from .scalar import NTScalar, ntwrappercommon, _metaHelper
 from .ndarray import NTNDArray
 from .enum import NTEnum
 
@@ -147,23 +147,26 @@ class NTTable(NTBase):
     Value = Value
 
     @staticmethod
-    def buildType(columns=[], extra=[]):
+    def buildType(columns=[], extra=[], display=False, control=False, valueAlarm=False):
         """Build a table
 
         :param list columns: List of column names and types. eg [('colA', 'd')]
         :param list extra: A list of tuples describing additional non-standard fields
         :returns: A :py:class:`Type`
         """
-        return Type(id="epics:nt/NTTable:1.0",
-                    spec=[
-                    ('labels', 'as'),
-                    ('value', ('S', None, columns)),
-                    ('descriptor', 's'),
-                    ('alarm', alarm),
-                    ('timeStamp', timeStamp),
-                    ] + extra)
-
-    def __init__(self, columns=[], extra=[]):
+        F = [
+            ('labels', 'as'),
+            ('value', ('S', None, columns)),
+            ('descriptor', 's'),
+            ('alarm', alarm),
+            ('timeStamp', timeStamp),
+        ]
+        # TODO: different metadata options
+        _metaHelper(F, 'i', display=display, control=control, valueAlarm=valueAlarm)
+        F.extend(extra)
+        return Type(id="epics:nt/NTTable:1.0", spec=F)
+
+    def __init__(self, columns=[], **kws):
         self.labels = []
         C = []
         for col, type in columns:
@@ -171,7 +174,7 @@ def __init__(self, columns=[], extra=[]):
                 raise ValueError("NTTable column types may not be array")
             C.append((col, 'a' + type))
             self.labels.append(col)
-        self.type = self.buildType(C, extra=extra)
+        self.type = self.buildType(C, **kws)
 
     def wrap(self, values, **kws):
         """Pack an iterable of dict into a Value
@@ -184,55 +187,43 @@ def wrap(self, values, **kws):
         """
         if isinstance(values, Value):
             return values
-        else:
+        elif isinstance(values, (list, dict)):
             cols = dict([(L, []) for L in self.labels])
-            try:
-                # unzip list of dict
-                for V in values:
-                    for L in self.labels:
-                        try:
-                            cols[L].append(V[L])
-                        except (IndexError, KeyError):
-                            pass
-                # allow omit empty columns
+            if isinstance(values, list):
+                update = values
+            else:
+                update = values['value']
+            # unzip list of dict
+            for V in update:
                 for L in self.labels:
-                    V = cols[L]
-                    if len(V) == 0:
-                        del cols[L]
-
-                try:
-                    values = self.Value(self.type, {
-                        'labels': self.labels,
-                        'value': cols,
-                    })
-                except:
-                    _log.error("Failed to encode '%s' with %s", cols, self.labels)
-                    raise
-            except:
-                _log.exception("Failed to wrap: %s", values)
-                raise
+                    try:
+                        cols[L].append(V[L])
+                    except (IndexError, KeyError):
+                        pass
+            # allow omit empty columns
+            for L in self.labels:
+                V = cols[L]
+                if len(V) == 0:
+                    del cols[L]
+            update = {'labels': self.labels, 'value': cols}
+            if isinstance(values, list):
+                values = self.Value(self.type, update)
+            else:
+                values.update(update)
+                values = self.Value(self.type, values)
+        else:
+            # index or string
+            V = self.type()
+            values = V
         return self._annotate(values, **kws)
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def unwrap(value):
-        """Iterate an NTTable
+    def unwrap(self, value):
+        """Unwrap an NTTable into ntwrappercommon
 
-        :returns: An iterator yielding an OrderedDict for each column
+        :returns: ntwrappercommon object
         """
-        ret = []
-
-        # build lists of column names, and value
-        lbl, cols = [], []
-        for cname, cval in value.value.items():
-            lbl.append(cname)
-            cols.append(cval)
-
-        # zip together column arrays to iterate over rows
-        for rval in izip(*cols):
-            # zip together column names and row values
-            ret.append(OrderedDict(zip(lbl, rval)))
+        return ntwrappercommon._store(self, value)
 
-        return ret
 
 class NTURI(object):
 
diff --git a/src/p4p/test/test_nt.py b/src/p4p/test/test_nt.py
index b5a75a10..54503311 100644
--- a/src/p4p/test/test_nt.py
+++ b/src/p4p/test/test_nt.py
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ def test_string_array_wrap(self):
 
 class TestTable(RefTestCase):
 
-    def test_wrap(self):
+    def test_dict_of_values_wrap(self):
         NT = nt.NTTable(columns=[
             ('a', 'i'),
             ('b', 's'),
@@ -145,7 +145,21 @@ def test_wrap(self):
         assert_aequal(V.value.a, [5, 6])
         self.assertEqual(V.value.b, ['one', 'two'])
 
+    def test_dict_wrap(self):
+        NT = nt.NTTable(columns=[
+            ('a', 'i'),
+            ('b', 's'),
+        ])
+        V = NT.wrap({'value' : [
+                        {'a': 5, 'b': 'one'},
+                        {'a': 6, 'b': 'two'},
+                    ]})
+
+        assert_aequal(V.value.a, [5, 6])
+        self.assertEqual(V.value.b, ['one', 'two'])
+
     def test_unwrap(self):
+        NT = nt.NTTable()
         T = nt.NTTable.buildType(columns=[
             ('a', 'ai'),
             ('b', 'as'),
@@ -158,13 +172,8 @@ def test_unwrap(self):
             },
         })
 
-        P = list(nt.NTTable.unwrap(V))
-
-        self.assertListEqual(P, [
-            OrderedDict([('a', 5), ('b', u'one')]),
-            OrderedDict([('a', 6), ('b', u'two')]),
-        ])
-
+        P = NT.unwrap(V)
+        self.assertEqual(P, nt.ntwrappercommon._store(NT, V))
 
 class TestURI(RefTestCase):