In recent years, there is an increasing interest in polarization 3D imaging technology, due to the advantages of high accuracy, long imaging distance and immune to the stray light polarization. However, the accurate acquisition of normal vector information of the surface is quite difficult by utilizing the reflected light characteristics of the surface, which constitutes an obstacle to the development of the technology. The mixture of specular reflected light and diffuse reflected light is the main factor for deteriorating the performances of polarization 3D imaging. In this review, the basic principle of polarization 3D imaging technology and polarization characteristics of reflected light were introduced. Meanwhile, the development of polarization 3D imaging technology was also reviewed. Finally, the problems and the future improvement in polarization 3D imaging are summarized and prospected.