Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Summary of segment information
Revenues	$ 105,214	$ 88,532	$ 216,924	$ 179,084
Gross profit	45,943	33,631	87,099	64,770
Gross margin	44.00%	38.00%	40.00%	36.00%
Income from operations	12,972	8,800	24,615	14,871
Interest expense, net	(1,364)	(1,187)	(2,882)	(2,802)
Equity in earnings (losses) of INOVA Geophysical	3,777	(4,173)	6,245	(5,033)
Other income (expense)	895	497	209	(2,502)
Income before income taxes	16,280	3,937	28,187	4,534
Solutions [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	71,969	48,958	138,096	106,851
Gross profit	28,904	11,190	47,889	24,506
Gross margin	40.00%	23.00%	35.00%	23.00%
Income from operations	17,434	3,042	27,040	8,854
Systems [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	22,819	29,475	59,525	53,435
Gross profit	9,234	15,110	25,046	27,355
Gross margin	40.00%	51.00%	42.00%	51.00%
Income from operations	995	9,057	9,735	15,137
Software [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	10,426	10,099	19,303	18,798
Gross profit	7,805	7,331	14,164	12,909
Gross margin	75.00%	73.00%	73.00%	69.00%
Income from operations	6,879	6,439	12,361	11,292
Corporate and Other [Member]
Summary of segment information
Income from operations	(12,336)	(9,738)	(24,521)	(20,412)
Data Processing [Member] | Solutions [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	28,190	20,634	55,055	40,933
New Venture [Member] | Solutions [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	21,544	9,772	50,538	32,222
Data Library [Member] | Solutions [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	22,235	18,552	32,503	33,696
Towed Streamer [Member] | Systems [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	13,727	20,234	29,531	37,781
Other [Member] | Systems [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	7,476	8,734	24,859	15,145
Software Systems [Member] | Software [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	9,551	9,541	17,921	17,968
Services [Member] | Software [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	875	558	1,382	830
Ocean Bottom [Member] | Systems [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	$ 1,616	$ 507	$ 5,135	$ 509