1. A method for determining three-dimensional surface coordinates comprising the illumination of an object ( 3 ) with a color pattern ( 9 ) of known structure by a projector ( 1 ) and the recording of an object image by a camera ( 2 ), color patterns comprising pattern elements having in each case a different color or in each case a different spectral composition of the projected light or a combination thereof, the single projection of the color pattern ( 9 ) onto the object ( 3 ) for image recording, the color pattern ( 9 ) having at least two adjacent rows ( 4 ) with a multiplicity of pattern elements ( 10 ), a respective pattern element ( 10 ) differing in color terms or in the spectral composition of the projected light both from an adjacent pattern element ( 11 ) within the row and from an adjacent pattern element ( 10 ) situated in an adjacent row, whereby it is possible to unambiguously determine the position of the pattern elements ( 10 ) in the row ( 4 ) in the color pattern ( 9 ) of the recorded image and this pattern element ( 10 ) is assigned a projection angle (&PHgr;), with which, given a known relative position between camera ( 2 ) and projector ( 1 ), it is possible to determine the three-dimensional coordinates of object points considered.