In projection moire topography, the investigation of fringe sensitivity, which means the change rate of fringe order according to object height, is important and necessary to reduce the measurement error of the shape of an object. Using the fringe sensitivity, the determination of the absolute orders of moire fringes can be performed very easily and rapidly. The important parameters in the determination of absolute orders of fringes are the positions of light source and object, and the grating period in projection moire topography. Among these parameters, the fringe sensitivity due to the transverse motion of the light source and the longitudinal motion of the object according to grating periods are analyzed and compared. As a result, whereas the fringe sensitivity in the transverse-motion method increases linearly and gradually as the distance between light source and imaging sensor increases, the fringe sensitivity due to the longitudinal-motion method decreases dramatically as the distance between imaging lens and object increases. In these methods, the fringe sensitivity and its change increase as the grating period increases.