The laser active imaging technology’s principle, characteristics and performance index are described. Through the theoretical calculation and the experiment, the laser active imaging distance and the recognition capability are studied. The parameters such as resolution, laser divergence angle, focal length and field of view are quantitatively analyzed. According to the results of theoretical study and experimental verification, the correctness of the analysis is proved. To increase imaging distance, the effect of reducing the divergence angle is more obvious than that of enhancing laser power. When the divergence angle is less than 4 mrad, the image identification of the 2 m target at 10 km can be achieved.