With the increasing demand for micro-products and bioengineering research, resolutions of profiles with micrometer or even nanometer scale are becoming commonplace. In addition development of large integrated manufacturing systems and the real time life science growth and adaptation need high-speed display and real-time inspection. Single point measurement is time consuming method with large area profile and micrometer resolution. Thus there is a need for a fast 3-D measurement system with high resolution. This paper presents a short overview among optical 3-D shape measurement techniques, and concentrates on the confocal method. Based on the properties analysis, a novel multi-channel 3-D topography measurement system was proposed. The feasibility and the construction of system were described A unique new structure of fiber coupled confocal system is put forth to solve present problems confronted in confocal system. This system can meet the current demand of high resolution and fast 3-D measurement.