Segment Information (Details)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($) segment	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of business segments | segment			4
Summary of segment information
Revenues	$ 36,795,000	$ 121,480,000	$ 77,373,000	$ 266,178,000
Gross profit (loss)	(10,135,000)	38,228,000	(25,923,000)	95,082,000
Income (loss) from operations	(40,689,000)	3,785,000	(87,378,000)	23,456,000
Interest expense, net	(4,607,000)	(4,934,000)	(9,232,000)	(9,731,000)
Equity in losses of investments	0	(1,781,000)	0	(3,469,000)
Other income, net	101,600,000	6,066,000	98,381,000	74,592,000
Income before income taxes	56,304,000	3,136,000	1,771,000	84,848,000
Operating segments [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	36,795,000	121,480,000	77,373,000	266,178,000
Gross profit (loss)	$ (10,135,000)	$ 38,228,000	$ (25,923,000)	$ 95,082,000
Gross margin	(28.00%)	31.00%	(34.00%)	36.00%
Operating segments [Member] | Solutions [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	$ 22,350,000	$ 62,634,000	$ 41,349,000	$ 151,875,000
Gross profit (loss)	$ (7,856,000)	$ 12,269,000	$ (18,248,000)	$ 45,280,000
Gross margin	(35.00%)	20.00%	(44.00%)	30.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ (19,756,000)	$ (1,419,000)	$ (41,534,000)	$ 17,693,000
Operating segments [Member] | Solutions [Member] | New Venture and Data Library [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	11,145,000	38,940,000	18,311,000	84,895,000
Operating segments [Member] | Solutions [Member] | New Venture [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	3,636,000	25,315,000	8,665,000	58,053,000
Operating segments [Member] | Solutions [Member] | Data Library [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	7,509,000	13,625,000	9,646,000	26,842,000
Operating segments [Member] | Solutions [Member] | Data Processing [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	11,205,000	23,694,000	23,038,000	66,980,000
Operating segments [Member] | Systems [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	7,674,000	22,405,000	20,443,000	47,253,000
Gross profit (loss)	$ 1,500,000	$ 9,748,000	$ 6,059,000	$ 21,165,000
Gross margin	20.00%	44.00%	30.00%	45.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ (2,379,000)	$ 3,547,000	$ (1,365,000)	$ 6,918,000
Operating segments [Member] | Systems [Member] | Towed Streamer [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	2,682,000	10,265,000	7,847,000	22,116,000
Operating segments [Member] | Systems [Member] | Other [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	4,992,000	12,140,000	12,596,000	25,137,000
Operating segments [Member] | Software [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	6,771,000	10,533,000	15,581,000	20,572,000
Gross profit (loss)	$ 4,208,000	$ 7,805,000	$ 9,798,000	$ 15,062,000
Gross margin	62.00%	74.00%	63.00%	73.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ 2,095,000	$ 5,630,000	$ 5,430,000	$ 10,758,000
Operating segments [Member] | Software [Member] | Software Systems [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	5,798,000	9,308,000	13,527,000	18,462,000
Operating segments [Member] | Software [Member] | Services [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	973,000	1,225,000	2,054,000	2,110,000
Operating segments [Member] | Ocean Bottom Services Segment [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	0	25,908,000	0	46,478,000
Gross profit (loss)	$ (7,987,000)	$ 8,406,000	$ (23,532,000)	$ 13,575,000
Gross margin	0.00%	32.00%	0.00%	29.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ (10,008,000)	$ 6,494,000	$ (27,567,000)	$ 10,656,000
Corporate and other [Member] | Corporate and Other [Member]
Summary of segment information
Income (loss) from operations	$ (10,641,000)	$ (10,467,000)	$ (22,342,000)	$ (22,569,000)
INOVA Geophysical [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Equity method investments value					$ 0