COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES - Environmental Reserves and Other Contingencies (Details)	12 Months Ended
Jan. 02, 2016
Environmental reserves and other contingencies
Number of years for which investigations and remediation efforts have been ongoing	30 years
Remediation cost to which Spectra-Physics is responsible (as a percent)	30.00%

Represents the period of investigations and remediation efforts put in by the entity since initiation.

No definition available.

Name:	newp_ReservesForEnvironmentalCostsInvestigationsAndRemediationEffortPeriodSinceInitiation
Namespace Prefix:	newp_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration