Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended																9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 03, 2016		Sep. 27, 2015	[1]	Jun. 28, 2015	[1]	Mar. 29, 2015	[1]	Dec. 28, 2014	[2]	Sep. 28, 2014	[2]	Jun. 29, 2014	[2]	Mar. 30, 2014	[2]	Sep. 27, 2015	Jan. 03, 2016	Dec. 28, 2014	Dec. 29, 2013
Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]
Sales by country:	$ 600.0	[1]	$ 555.4		$ 577.7		$ 565.0		$ 622.3		$ 601.1		$ 597.1		$ 573.5			$ 2,298.1	$ 2,394.0	$ 2,338.6
Gross profit	221.6	[1]	209.6		220.0		219.1		230.7		225.7		228.7		221.8
Net income	55.5	[1]	48.3		48.0		43.7		58.9		54.9		55.8		46.0			195.5	215.6	184.5
Noncontrolling interest	0.0	[1]	0.0		0.3		0.0		1.3		0.7		0.3		(0.2)			$ 0.3	$ 2.1	$ 0.5
Net income attributable to Teledyne	$ 55.5	[1]	$ 48.3		$ 48.3		$ 43.7		$ 60.2		$ 55.6		$ 56.1		$ 45.8
Basic earnings per share attributable to Teledyne:
Basic earnings per share (in USD per share)	$ 1.59	[1]	$ 1.37		$ 1.37		$ 1.22		$ 1.65		$ 1.49		$ 1.50		$ 1.22			$ 5.55	$ 5.87	$ 4.96
Diluted earnings per share attributable to Teledyne:
Diluted earnings per share (in USD per share)	$ 1.57	[1]	$ 1.34		$ 1.34		$ 1.20		$ 1.62		$ 1.47		$ 1.47		$ 1.20			$ 5.44	$ 5.75	$ 4.87
Fiscal period, length																		371 days	364 days	364 days
Length of quarterly period (in weeks)	98 days																91 days		91 days

[1] Fiscal year 2015 was a 371 year, each quarter contained 91 weeks except the fourth quarter which contained 98 weeks.

[2] Fiscal year 2014 was a P364D-week year, each quarter contained P91D weeks.