Fair Value Measurements - Asset Acquisition Contingent Consideration - Additional Information (Details) - Video Signal Processing and Management Technologies $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
Sep. 27, 2019 USD ($) Installment	Dec. 14, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 14, 2016 EUR (€)
Asset Acquisition Contingent Consideration [Line Items]
Date of Acquisition Agreement	Dec. 14, 2016
Number of contingent consideration annual installments \| Installment	4
Undiscounted range of outcomes, minimum \| €			€ 0
Undiscounted range of outcomes, maximum		$ 6.6	€ 5,500,000
Fair value of contingent consideration \| $	$ 4.7

Amount of liability recognized arising from contingent consideration in an asset acquisition.

No definition available.

Name:	novt_AssetAcquisitionContingentConsiderationLiability
Namespace Prefix:	novt_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Asset acquisition contingent consideration.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	novt_AssetAcquisitionContingentConsiderationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	novt_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

For contingent consideration arrangements, this element represents an estimate of the high-end of the potential range (undiscounted) of the consideration which may be paid.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	novt_ContingentConsiderationArrangementsRangeOfOutcomesValueHigh
Namespace Prefix:	novt_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

For contingent consideration arrangements, this element represents an estimate of the low-end of the potential range (undiscounted) of the consideration which may be paid.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	novt_ContingentConsiderationArrangementsRangeOfOutcomesValueLow
Namespace Prefix:	novt_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

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

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	novt_DateOfAcquisitionAgreement
Namespace Prefix:	novt_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of contingent consideration payment annual installments.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: