Benefit Plans (Details Textual) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Sep. 30, 2010 Omneon [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Omneon [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 1995 Stock Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Other Stock Option Plans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Omneon Stock Option Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock Plan 2002 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 1995 Stock Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Options and Restricted Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Director Option Plans 2002 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member]
Benefit Plans (Textual) [Abstract]
Price at which incentive stock options may be granted						Not less than 100% of the fair value
Price at which non-statutory stock options may be granted						Not less than 85% of the fair value
Restricted stock vesting period											4 years
Maximum term of stock options granted						7 years					10 years
Decrease Plan reserve for every unit						1.5 shares for every unit or share granted
Increase Plan Reserve For Every Unit						1.5 shares for every unit or share forfeited
Common Stock reserve for issuance							619,219	1,135,485		18,472,459		623,162		3,829,786
Common stock authorized for issuance under other stock option plans							0
Rights for vesting of the shares under option on each anniversary of the grant date						Vest over four years and expire in seven years. Option grants prior to February 2006 expire in ten years.
Maximum Exercise price as percentage to fair value									85.00%
Increase in number of shares authorized in the period.													2,000,000
Increased number of shares reserved for every unit forfeited												1.5
Reduced the number of shares reserved for every unit granted												1.5
Common Stock for issuance under various employee stock option plans														945,287	864,800	705,206
Shares available for grant										7,671,391		163,317
Range of payroll deduction														1% to 10%
Share of Stock based incentive plans in contribution														$ 5,200,000	$ 4,200,000	$ 3,700,000
Stock issued under stock based incentive plans														6,670,214
Stock options to purchase				1,522,000	1,522,000
Number of shares to purchase under restricted stock units				1,455,000	1,455,000
Number of shares reserved for issuance under Omneon plans	1,135,485
Share based compensation arrangement vesting period												Both options and RSUs vest over a period of time as determined by the Board of Directors, generally three years for the initial grant and one year for subsequent grants to a non-employee director, and expire seven years from date of grant
Additional Benefit Plans (Textual) [Abstract]
Intrinsic value of options exercised	5,200,000	1,000,000	200,000
Aggregate intrinsic value of exercised options	1,999,000
Defined contribution plan description	Plan allows participants to contribute up to 20% of total compensation, subject to applicable Internal Revenue Service limitations. Harmonic can make discretionary contributions to the plan of 25% of the first 4% contributed by eligible participants up to a maximum contribution per participant of $1,000 per year. Employer contributions totaled $0.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2008. The employer contribution was suspended during the first quarter of 2009.
Maximum contribution of per participants	$ 1,000,000
Maximum percentage of participants to contribution	20.00%
Discretionary Contributions of plan	25.00%
Percentage of Contributed by eligible participants	4.00%