A three-dimensional profile measurement sstem based on a projection coded grating technoque is presented. The system uses a designing and decoding technique for grey coded gratings. The coded grating has black, white and grey stripes. The period triples a conventional grating. lt greatly increcses the height measuring range without any decrease in stripe separation. The shape of object and be obtainde from only one grating image. The systm is suitable for instantaneous measurement of moving objects including human face. The technique proposed pedmites rapid 3D measurement and no moving parts are involvde in the system. The hardware is relatively simple. Special data processing software is develped. Results of a practical example confirm the effcetiveness of the proposed method.