Segment Information (Details)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of business segments | segment			4
Summary of segment information
Revenues	$ 66,674,000	$ 106,540,000	$ 144,047,000	$ 372,718,000
Gross profit (loss)	11,108,000	29,223,000	(14,815,000)	124,305,000
Income (loss) from operations	(12,874,000)	(5,349,000)	(100,252,000)	18,107,000
Interest expense, net	(4,854,000)	(5,048,000)	(14,086,000)	(14,779,000)
Equity in losses of investments	0	(5,558,000)	0	(9,027,000)
Other income (expense), net	(346,000)	(622,000)	98,035,000	73,970,000
Income (loss) before income taxes	(18,074,000)	(16,577,000)	(16,303,000)	68,271,000
Operating segments [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	66,674,000	106,540,000	144,047,000	372,718,000
Gross profit (loss)	$ 11,108,000	$ 29,223,000	$ (14,815,000)	$ 124,305,000
Gross margin	17.00%	27.00%	(10.00%)	33.00%
Operating segments [Member] | Solutions [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	$ 52,645,000	$ 45,859,000	$ 93,994,000	$ 197,734,000
Gross profit (loss)	$ 11,294,000	$ 5,927,000	$ (6,954,000)	$ 51,207,000
Gross margin	21.00%	13.00%	(7.00%)	26.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ 768,000	$ (5,960,000)	$ (40,766,000)	$ 11,733,000
Operating segments [Member] | Solutions [Member] | New Venture and Data Library [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	41,952,000	21,708,000	60,263,000	106,603,000
Operating segments [Member] | Solutions [Member] | New Venture [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	26,650,000	18,446,000	35,315,000	76,499,000
Operating segments [Member] | Solutions [Member] | Data Library [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	15,302,000	3,262,000	24,948,000	30,104,000
Operating segments [Member] | Solutions [Member] | Data Processing [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	10,693,000	24,151,000	33,731,000	91,131,000
Operating segments [Member] | Systems [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	7,290,000	24,695,000	27,733,000	71,948,000
Gross profit (loss)	$ 1,366,000	$ 10,123,000	$ 7,425,000	$ 31,288,000
Gross margin	19.00%	41.00%	27.00%	43.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ (1,295,000)	$ 2,917,000	$ (2,660,000)	$ 9,835,000
Operating segments [Member] | Systems [Member] | Towed Streamer [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	4,426,000	13,666,000	12,273,000	35,782,000
Operating segments [Member] | Systems [Member] | Other [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	2,864,000	11,029,000	15,460,000	36,166,000
Operating segments [Member] | Software [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	6,739,000	11,010,000	22,320,000	31,582,000
Gross profit (loss)	$ 4,399,000	$ 8,326,000	$ 14,197,000	$ 23,388,000
Gross margin	65.00%	76.00%	64.00%	74.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ 2,444,000	$ 6,227,000	$ 7,874,000	$ 16,985,000
Operating segments [Member] | Software [Member] | Software Systems [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	5,869,000	9,922,000	19,396,000	28,384,000
Operating segments [Member] | Software [Member] | Services [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	870,000	1,088,000	2,924,000	3,198,000
Operating segments [Member] | Ocean Bottom Services Segment [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	0	24,976,000	0	71,454,000
Gross profit (loss)	$ (5,951,000)	$ 4,847,000	$ (29,483,000)	$ 18,422,000
Gross margin	0.00%	19.00%	0.00%	26.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ (7,289,000)	$ 1,677,000	$ (34,856,000)	$ 12,333,000
Corporate and other [Member] | Corporate and Other [Member]
Summary of segment information
Income (loss) from operations	$ (7,502,000)	$ (10,210,000)	$ (29,844,000)	$ (32,779,000)
INOVA Geophysical [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Equity method investments value					$ 0