Background: The accuracy of three-dimensional measurement of object surface is always affected by the nonlinear gamma of the projector. The defocusing binary projection can overcome the nonlinear gamma distortion of the projector and reduce the effect of high harmonics without gamma calibration. Although researches have already reduced the errors to get a clear sinusoidal curve, there still leave room for improvement, especially when wide stripes are applied during the measurement. Methods: This paper presents a kind of ellipse binary pattern. By analyzing the property and spectrum, the binary pattern can produce high quality sinusoidal curve and produce smaller errors. It has a better effect to use an ellipse pattern to overcome the nonlinear gamma distortion of the projector and it is suit to be used as wide stripes. Results: Simulation and comparison experiments plus three-step phase shifted method are conducted to verify feasibility and accuracy of this binary pattern. The experimental results have indicated that this binary pattern can increase the accuracy of 3D measurement and reduce phase errors caused by the nonlinear gamma of the projector. The defocusing ellipse pattern is superior to traditional methods. In addition, the defocusing binary stripe is robust and suit to measure object with large period.