Earnings Per Share (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2015	Mar. 30, 2014	Feb. 02, 2015	Sep. 28, 2014	Feb. 28, 2015	Jan. 27, 2015
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Payments for repurchase of common stock	$ 142.0	$ 23.6
Line of credit facility, current borrowing capacity	750
Treasury stock, shares	2,366,310
Stock options excluded in computation of diluted earnings per share (in shares)		0
Computation of Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share
Net income attributable to Teledyne	43.7	45.8
Basic earnings per share:
Weighted average common shares outstanding (in shares)	35,700,000	37,500,000
Basic earnings per common share (in USD per share)	$ 1.22	$ 1.22
Diluted earnings per share:
Weighted average common shares outstanding (in shares)	35,700,000	37,500,000
Dilutive effect of exercise of options outstanding (in shares)	800,000	800,000
Weighted average diluted common shares outstanding (in shares)	36,500,000	38,300,000
Diluted earnings per common share (in USD per share)	$ 1.20	$ 1.20
Accelerated share repurchase agreement
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Stock repurchase program, authorized amount			142.0	101.6
Stock repurchase program, authorized amount to be repurchased (in shares)			1,500,000	1,030,000		2,500,000
Treasury stock acquired, average cost (per share)			$ 94.68	$ 98.62
Treasury stock acquired (in shares)			1,425,000	927,000
Payments for repurchase of common stock			134.9	91.4
Percentage of shares repurchased				90.00%
Percentage of shares repurchased			95.00%
Accelerated share repurchase agreement | Revolving Credit Facility
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Payments for repurchase of common stock					$ 120.0