Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) segment
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of segments \| segment			2	3
Summary of segment information
Net revenues	$ 53,239	$ 47,200	$ 131,970	$ 105,451
Gross profit (loss)	$ 25,288	$ 16,475	$ 54,783	$ 21,811
Gross margin	47.00%	35.00%	42.00%	21.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ 3,858	$ (2,452)	$ (14,632)	$ (37,611)
Interest expense, net	(3,155)	(3,022)	(9,378)	(9,769)
Other income (expense), net	(242)	91	(938)	(616)
Income (loss) before income taxes	461	(5,383)	(24,948)	(47,996)
Operating expenses	21,430	18,927	69,415	59,422
Ocean Bottom Integrated Technologies \| Pro Forma
Summary of segment information
Income (loss) from operations	(700)	(2,800)	(2,300)	(8,600)
Operating expenses	700	1,400	2,300	3,800
Operating segments
Summary of segment information
Gross profit (loss)	$ 25,288	$ 17,875	$ 54,783	$ 26,606
Gross margin	47.00%	38.00%	42.00%	25.00%
Operating segments \| E&P Technology & Services
Summary of segment information
Net revenues	$ 40,241	$ 36,321	$ 95,867	$ 76,077
Gross profit (loss)	$ 18,316	$ 12,139	$ 36,113	$ 11,626
Gross margin	46.00%	33.00%	38.00%	15.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ 11,878	$ 6,578	$ 15,500	$ (4,422)
Operating segments \| E&P Technology & Services \| Total multi-client revenues
Summary of segment information
Net revenues	33,193	32,174	79,424	61,698
Operating segments \| E&P Technology & Services \| New Venture
Summary of segment information
Net revenues	5,905	18,218	24,394	40,069
Operating segments \| E&P Technology & Services \| Data Library
Summary of segment information
Net revenues	27,288	13,956	55,030	21,629
Operating segments \| E&P Technology & Services \| Imaging Services
Summary of segment information
Net revenues	7,048	4,147	16,443	14,379
Operating segments \| E&P Operations Optimization
Summary of segment information
Net revenues	12,998	10,879	36,103	29,374
Gross profit (loss)	$ 6,972	$ 5,736	$ 18,670	$ 14,980
Gross margin	54.00%	53.00%	52.00%	51.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ 2,994	$ 1,963	$ 5,808	$ 3,992
Operating segments \| E&P Operations Optimization \| Devices
Summary of segment information
Net revenues	6,103	5,356	18,455	14,275
Operating segments \| E&P Operations Optimization \| Optimization Software & Services
Summary of segment information
Net revenues	6,895	5,523	17,648	15,099
Other
Summary of segment information
Gross profit (loss)	$ 0	$ (1,400)	$ 0	$ (4,795)
Gross margin	0.00%	(3.00%)	0.00%	(5.00%)
Support and other
Summary of segment information
Income (loss) from operations	$ (11,014)	$ (10,993)	$ (35,940)	$ (37,181)

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