be read off in fig9 a in the energy distribution in the x direction and y direction that two objects 12 a and 12 b are located in the detection region 20 which have different distances from the triangulation sensor 10 as described the direction of movement the speed of movement etc of an object 12 which produces a light patch 30 on the receiver unit 26 can be read off from a time sequence in accordance with fig1 a to 10 c an energy distribution in the x direction and y direction such as is shown for example in fig1 produces the information that interference elements are located in the detection region 20 since the light patch pattern which is reflected in the energy distributions differs from a taught ideal light patch pattern as is shown in fig4 the evaluation of the individual signals is shown by way of example in fig1 for different projection directions groups of individual reception elements 28 are taken out and only their sum value considered with a preset detection problem or in the course of a teaching procedure any deviation of this sum value from an expected sum value provides the user with information on an object located in the detection region 20 in accordance with the invention the homogeneity of the light patch can also be evaluated for which purpose for example the standard deviation or a mean contrast is determined over the area of the two dimensional receiver unit it is sufficient in a number of cases.