diff --git a/lmdeploy/serve/processors/multimodal.py b/lmdeploy/serve/processors/multimodal.py
index 8847c6f2c1..f0ffda5a96 100644
--- a/lmdeploy/serve/processors/multimodal.py
+++ b/lmdeploy/serve/processors/multimodal.py
@@ -109,25 +109,37 @@ def _parse_multimodal_item(i: int, in_messages: list[dict], out_messages: list[d
                 out_message['content'].append(item)
                 continue
 
-            item_params = item.get(item_type, {}).copy()
-            data_src = item_params.pop('url', None) or item_params.pop('data', None)
+            item_val = item.get(item_type, {})
+            if isinstance(item_val, dict):
+                # value is a dict containing data and other params
+                # msg = {'type': 'image_url', 'image_url': {'url': xxx, ...}}
+                # msg = {'type': 'image', 'image': {'url': xxx, ...}}
+                # msg = {'type': 'image_data', 'image_data': {'data': PIL.Image.Image, ...}}
+                item_params = item_val.copy()
+                data_src = item_params.pop('url', None) or item_params.pop('data', None)
+            else:
+                # value is a direct data reference
+                # msg = {'type': 'image_url', 'image_url': 'xxx', ...}
+                # msg = {'type': 'image', 'image': 'xxx', ...}
+                item_params = {k: v for k, v in item.items() if k not in ('type', item_type)}
+                data_src = item_val
 
             if item_type == 'image_data':
                 modality = Modality.IMAGE
                 data = data_src
-            elif item_type == 'image_url':
+            elif item_type in ('image_url', 'image'):
                 modality = Modality.IMAGE
-                img_io = ImageMediaIO(**media_io_kwargs.get('image', {}))
-                data = load_from_url(data_src, img_io)
-            elif item_type == 'video_url':
+                data = load_from_url(data_src, ImageMediaIO(**media_io_kwargs.get('image', {})))
+            elif item_type in ('video_url', 'video'):
                 modality = Modality.VIDEO
-                vid_io = VideoMediaIO(image_io=ImageMediaIO(), **media_io_kwargs.get('video', {}))
-                data, metadata = load_from_url(data_src, vid_io)
+                data, metadata = load_from_url(data_src,
+                                               VideoMediaIO(image_io=ImageMediaIO(),
+                                                            **media_io_kwargs.get('video', {}))
+                                            )
                 item_params['video_metadata'] = metadata
-            elif item_type == 'time_series_url':
+            elif item_type in ('time_series_url', 'time_series'):
                 modality = Modality.TIME_SERIES
-                ts_io = TimeSeriesMediaIO(**media_io_kwargs.get('time_series', {}))
-                data = load_from_url(data_src, ts_io)
+                data = load_from_url(data_src, TimeSeriesMediaIO(**media_io_kwargs.get('time_series', {})))
             else:
                 raise NotImplementedError(f'unknown type: {item_type}')
 
@@ -304,7 +316,7 @@ def _re_format_prompt_images_pair(prompt: tuple) -> dict:
 
     def _has_multimodal_input(self, messages: list[dict]) -> bool:
         """Check if messages contain multimodal input (images)."""
-        multimodal_types = ['image_url', 'image_data', 'video_url', 'time_series_url']
+        multimodal_types = ['image_url', 'image_data', 'image', 'video_url', 'video', 'time_series_url', 'time_series']
         return any(
             isinstance(message.get('content'), list) and any(
                 item.get('type') in multimodal_types for item in message['content']) for message in messages)