Credit Facilities - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Maximum borrowing capacity under bank line of credit facility	$ 10,000,000.0
Bank line of credit facility, maturity date	Aug. 22, 2014
Borrowings under bank line of credit facility	0
Unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short term investments to current liabilities ratio	maintain a ratio of unrestricted cash, accounts receivable and short term investments to current liabilities (less deferred revenue) of at least 1.75 to 1.00
Line of credit facility financial covenant terms	4.12 to 1
Line of credit facility financial covenant terms	1.75
Ratio under covenant	4.12
Covenants under the line of credit facility	At December 31, 2013, Harmonic was in compliance with the covenants under the line of credit facility
Interest rate	3.25%
Annualized rate of LIBOR	0.17%
Credit facility collateral	Borrowings are not collateralized
Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Percentage added to LIBOR to facilitate line of credit	1.75%
Maximum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Percentage added to LIBOR to facilitate line of credit	1.92%
Standby letters of credit [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Maximum borrowing capacity under bank line of credit facility	200,000
Line of credit [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Maximum borrowing capacity under bank line of credit facility	$ 9,800,000