1. A three dimensional (3D) imaging system using a structured light illumination (SLI) technique, comprising: at least one projection unit for projecting at least one structured light pattern onto a 3D object, wherein the at least one structured light pattern includes N different component patterns, wherein each of the N different component patterns is a different color; one or more cameras for capturing at least one SLI image of the 3D object with the structured light pattern projected onto the 3D object; and a processing unit for processing the at least one SLI image and separating the N different component patterns projected onto the 3D object to determine coordinates of the 3D object and wherein the processing unit is operable to process the SLI image of the 3D object to recover albedo values for a plurality of pixels of the SLI image.