ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES (Details)	12 Months Ended									12 Months Ended											12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended						0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 29, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Developed technology USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Developed technology USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Customer relationships USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Customer relationships USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Other intangible assets USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Other intangible assets USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 In-process research and development USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Ophir USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Vistek and ILX Lightwave Corporation USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Vistek and ILX Lightwave Corporation USD ($)	Oct. 10, 2012 Vistek USD ($)	Oct. 10, 2012 Vistek Developed technology USD ($)	Oct. 10, 2012 Vistek Customer relationships USD ($)	Oct. 10, 2012 Vistek Other intangible assets USD ($)	Jan. 13, 2012 ILX Lightwave Corporation USD ($)	Jan. 13, 2012 ILX Lightwave Corporation Developed technology USD ($)	Jan. 13, 2012 ILX Lightwave Corporation Customer relationships USD ($)	Jan. 13, 2012 ILX Lightwave Corporation Other intangible assets USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Opticoat USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2011 Opticoat USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2011 Opticoat Developed technology USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2011 Opticoat Customer relationships USD ($)	Oct. 04, 2011 Ophir USD ($)	Oct. 04, 2011 Ophir Senior secured credit facility USD ($)	Oct. 04, 2011 Ophir Developed technology USD ($)	Oct. 04, 2011 Ophir Customer relationships USD ($)	Oct. 04, 2011 Ophir Other intangible assets USD ($)	Oct. 04, 2011 Ophir In-process research and development USD ($)	Jul. 29, 2011 High Q USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 High Q USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 High Q EUR (€)	Dec. 29, 2012 High Q Minimum	Jul. 29, 2011 High Q Developed technology USD ($)	Jul. 29, 2011 High Q Customer relationships USD ($)	Jul. 29, 2011 High Q Other intangible assets USD ($)
Cost of acquisition
Purchase price of the acquisition													$ 2,500,000				$ 9,000,000					$ 3,000,000			$ 242,100,000						$ 18,500,000
Initial purchase price																	9,300,000					2,000,000			242,300,000						17,200,000
Purchase price deposited at closing into escrow account													250,000				1,200,000														2,900,000
Transaction costs incurred													49,000				100,000					100,000			4,700,000						400,000
Reduction in purchase price due to net asset adjustment																	300,000
Increase in purchase price due to net asset adjustment																															1,300,000
Amount held back to secure transaction																						1,000,000
Amount paid by the entity in 2012 in absence of any indemnification claims																					850,000
Amount payable by the entity in 2013 in absence of any indemnification claims																					150,000
Purchase price, present value																						2,900,000
Purchase price allocated to fair value of unearned compensation related to unvested stock options																									200,000
Cash on hand used in payments for acquisition																									162,800,000
Net proceeds received from issuance of long term debt, used in payments for acquisition		187,934,000																								79,500,000
Net cash used in acquisitions	11,439,000	233,696,000																							219,200,000						12,500,000
Sale and lease back transactions
Proceeds from sale of building																																4,500,000	3,500,000
Sale and lease back transaction term																																		10 years
Mortgage loan repayment term																																10 years	10 years
Annual interest rate (as a percent)																																2.00%	2.00%
Mortgage loan on building																																4,400,000	3,400,000
Current portion of mortgage loan on building included in prepaid expenses and other current assets																																300,000
Non-current portion of mortgage loan on building included in other assets																																4,100,000
Assets acquired and liabilities assumed:
Cash	44,000	29,222,000															44,000								23,233,000						5,989,000
Accounts receivable	1,224,000	20,226,000															1,224,000								18,732,000						1,494,000
Inventories	942,000	38,199,000											81,000				861,000								30,370,000						7,829,000
Other current assets		10,435,000																							4,478,000						5,957,000
Other assets	613,000												26,000				587,000
Goodwill	4,035,000	74,571,000											273,000				3,762,000					1,302,000			66,524,000						6,745,000
Intangible assets			4,000,000	48,535,000	2,000,000	58,138,000	1,110,000	18,140,000	9,560,000					1,200,000	900,000	20,000		2,800,000	1,100,000	1,090,000			705,000	148,000			41,530,000	56,640,000	13,970,000	9,560,000					6,300,000	1,350,000	4,170,000
Property and equipment		44,005,000																				917,000			41,652,000						1,436,000
Other noncurrent assets		14,142,000																							13,917,000						225,000
Short-term borrowings		(17,781,000)																							(7,082,000)						(10,699,000)
Accounts payable		(9,548,000)																							(7,756,000)						(1,792,000)
Other liabilities / other current liabilities	(644,000)	(21,252,000)															(644,000)								(17,562,000)						(3,690,000)
Long-term debt		(13,942,000)																							(9,781,000)						(4,161,000)
Deferred income taxes	(1,841,000)	(25,355,000)															(1,841,000)								(23,292,000)						(2,063,000)
Other noncurrent liabilities		(11,695,000)																				(137,000)			(10,973,000)						(585,000)
Non-controlling interests		(2,076,000)																							(2,076,000)
Assets acquired and liabilities assumed, total	11,483,000	263,524,000											2,500,000				8,983,000					2,935,000			242,084,000						18,505,000
Impairment charges related to goodwill	67,797,000									67,797,000
Impairment charges related to acquired intangible assets										62,600,000
Impairment charges related to fixed assets	500,000									500,000
Supplemental pro forma financial information, Actual
Net sales											7,601,000
Net income attributable to Newport Corporation											1,126,000
Supplemental pro forma information:
Net sales											596,484,000	554,112,000
Net income (loss) attributable to Newport Corporation											(88,859,000)	79,494,000
Pro forma increase in amortization expense	100,000	1,400,000
Charges to cost of sales related to inventory added back to pro forma net income	100,000
Pro forma transaction costs	$ 500,000