Number of contingent consideration payment installments.

No definition available.

Name:	novt_NumberOfContingentConsiderationInstallments
Namespace Prefix:	novt_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionContingentConsiderationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date when the business acquisition agreement was executed, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionDateOfAcquisitionAgreement1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Name of the acquired entity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65885119&loc=d3e1392-128463

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionNameOfAcquiredEntity
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

For contingent consideration arrangements recognized in connection with a business combination, this element represents an estimate of the high-end of the potential range (undiscounted) of the consideration which may be paid.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationContingentConsiderationArrangementsRangeOfOutcomesValueHigh
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

For contingent consideration arrangements and indemnification assets recognized in connection with a business combination, this element represents an estimate of the low-end of the potential range (undiscounted) of the consideration which may be paid.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationContingentConsiderationArrangementsRangeOfOutcomesValueLow
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of liability recognized arising from contingent consideration in a business combination.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6927-128479

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 35
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911338&loc=d3e6819-128478

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 25
-Paragraph 6
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911189&loc=d3e6408-128476

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationContingentConsiderationLiability
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of settlements of financial instrument classified as a liability measured using unobservable inputs that reflect the entity's own assumption about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66048111&loc=d3e19207-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueMeasurementWithUnobservableInputsReconciliationRecurringBasisLiabilitySettlements
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=novt_SkyetekIncorporationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=novt_LincolnLaserCompanyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=novt_ApplimotionIncorporationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Fair Value Measurements - Additional Information (Details)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) Installment	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 18, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 11, 2015 USD ($)	Feb. 19, 2015 USD ($)
Skyetek Inc.
Business Acquisition Contingent Consideration [Line Items]
Business combination, date of agreement	Dec. 18, 2015
Name of acquired entity	Skyetek Inc
Undiscounted range of outcomes, minimum			$ 0
Undiscounted range of outcomes, maximum			300,000
Estimated fair value of contingent consideration			$ 200,000
Lincoln Laser Company
Business Acquisition Contingent Consideration [Line Items]
Business combination, date of agreement	Nov. 11, 2015
Name of acquired entity	Lincoln Laser Company
Estimated fair value of contingent consideration		$ 1,400,000		$ 2,300,000
Payments of contingent consideration	$ 1,400,000
Applimotion Inc.
Business Acquisition Contingent Consideration [Line Items]
Business combination, date of agreement	Feb. 19, 2015
Name of acquired entity	Applimotion Inc
Undiscounted range of outcomes, minimum					$ 0
Undiscounted range of outcomes, maximum					4,000,000
Estimated fair value of contingent consideration	$ 2,400,000	$ 3,600,000			$ 1,000,000
Payments of contingent consideration	$ 1,200,000
Number of contingent consideration installments \| Installment	2