Business Acquisitions, Goodwill and Acquired Intangible Assets (Narrative) (Details) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 29, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 USD ($) entity	Jan. 01, 2012 USD ($) entity	Oct. 22, 2013 C.D. Limited [Member] USD ($)	Oct. 22, 2013 C.D. Limited [Member] GBP (£)	Dec. 29, 2013 C.D. Limited [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 30, 2013 CETAC Technologies [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2013 CETAC Technologies [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 CETAC Technologies [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 03, 2012 LeCroy [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2013 LeCroy [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 LeCroy [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 LeCroy [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 Other 2012 Acquisitions [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 PDM Neptec [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 Blue View [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 11, 2011 DALSA [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 02, 2011 DALSA [Member] CAD	Apr. 03, 2012 Optech Incorporated [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Optech Incorporated [Member] CAD	Dec. 30, 2012 Optech Incorporated [Member] USD ($)		Dec. 29, 2013 Optech Incorporated [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Optech Incorporated [Member]	Dec. 30, 2012 VariSystems [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2012 Other 2011 Acquisitions [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 05, 2013 Nova Research, Inc [Member] USD ($)	May 08, 2013 Axiom [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2013 Axiom [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 01, 2013 RESON [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2013 RESON [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 RESON [Member] EUR (€)	Dec. 29, 2013 Other 2013 Acquisitions [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2013 Minimum [Member]	Dec. 29, 2013 Maximum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase of businesses and other investments	$ 128.2	$ 389.2	$ 366.7
Payments to acquire businesses, net of cash acquired				21.8		21.8	26.4	26.4		301.3		301.3		87.9	7.4	16.3	339.5		27.9		27.9	[1]			36.3	27.2		4.0	4.0	69.7	69.7		1.4
Percentage of voting interests acquired																			51.00%
Payments to acquire businesses, adjustment							0.4
Sales reported by acquired entity for last annual period					9.9				24.0				178.1	98.7				212.3		54.7												50.8
Number of other businesses acquired		4	3
Goodwill, net	1,037.8	990.2	717.8			11.9		11.1				174.4			3.3	10.8					62.4				14.2				3.4		35.1
Acquired intangibles, net	270.9	265.7
Amortizable other intangible assets, useful lives																																		1 year	15 years
Amortization expense	31.5	29.4	24.6
Future amortization expense, 2014	29.6
Future amortization expense, 2015	28.0
Future amortization expense, 2016	25.2
Future amortization expense, 2017	23.6
Future amortization expense, 2018	20.6
Percentage of interests acquired																			100.00%				19.00%	19.00%			49.00%
Payments to acquire businesses, gross																											4.9
Payments to acquire businesses, periodic payment																												1.3
Periodic payment, term																												3 years
Ownership percentage by noncontrolling owners																			49.00%
Equity interest issued or issuable, value assigned																			49.8
Other noncontrolling interests																					49.8		47.3
Goodwill, purchase accounting adjustments											(4.9)
Valuation allowance, deferred tax asset, change in amount	$ 22.9										$ 4.9
Additional percentage of voting interests acquired																			32.00%

[1] In April 2012, Teledyne acquired a majority interest in the parent company of Optech for $27.9 million, net of cash acquired. The purchase increased Teledyne’s ownership percentage to 51% from the original 19% interest purchased in 2011. With the April 2012 purchase, we now consolidate 100% of Optech’s balance sheet and financial results into Teledyne’s results with an appropriate adjustment for the minority ownership. The goodwill and acquired intangible assets are based on 100% of Optech’s balance sheet, while the purchase price represents the additional purchase of the 32% interest.