Interferometric metrology is well established for both single point and full field measurements. However, absolute techniques for long range measurements, spanning 100's to 10,000's of fringe orders whilst maintaining sub-fringe resolution have been reported with widely varying levels of performance.In this paper, techniques for long range multi-wavelength interferometry are reviewed with respect to applications of classical interferometry and fringe projection profilometry. Whilst hierarchical geometric series methods provide a potential solution it is shown that significantly greater freedom in wavelength selection is obtained by applying excess fraction principles and a new predictive model for this technique is discussed.