Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Oct. 19, 2017
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	IRIDEX CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0001006045
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2017
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-30
Trading Symbol	IRIX
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		11,579,817