Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) segment	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of segments \| segment	3
Summary of segment information
Revenues	$ 32,556	$ 22,665
Gross profit (loss)	6,101	(8,930)
Income (loss) from operations	(13,912)	(30,129)
Interest expense, net	(4,464)	(4,734)
Other income (expense), net	(5,068)	120
Loss before income taxes	(23,444)	(34,743)
Operating segments [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	32,556	22,665
Gross profit (loss)	$ 6,101	$ (8,930)
Gross margin	19.00%	(39.00%)
Operating segments [Member] \| Devices And Optimization Software And Services [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	$ 9,246	$ 9,647
Operating segments [Member] \| E & P Technology & Services [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	23,310	13,018
Gross profit (loss)	$ 4,010	$ (9,773)
Gross margin	17.00%	(75.00%)
Income (loss) from operations	$ (1,096)	$ (14,714)
Operating segments [Member] \| E & P Technology & Services [Member] \| New Venture and Data Library [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	17,555	7,578
Operating segments [Member] \| E & P Technology & Services [Member] \| New Venture [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	6,949	3,306
Operating segments [Member] \| E & P Technology & Services [Member] \| Data Library [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	10,606	4,272
Operating segments [Member] \| E & P Technology & Services [Member] \| Imaging Services [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	5,755	5,440
Operating segments [Member] \| E & P Operations Optimization [Member]
Summary of segment information
Gross profit (loss)	$ 4,787	$ 4,719
Gross margin	52.00%	49.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ 1,549	$ 1,601
Operating segments [Member] \| E & P Operations Optimization [Member] \| Devices [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	4,990	5,359
Operating segments [Member] \| E & P Operations Optimization [Member] \| Optimization Software and Services [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	4,256	4,288
Operating segments [Member] \| Ocean Bottom Services Segment [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	0	0
Gross profit (loss)	$ (2,696)	$ (3,876)
Gross margin	0.00%	0.00%
Income (loss) from operations	$ (4,008)	$ (7,631)
Corporate and other [Member] \| Corporate and Other [Member]
Summary of segment information
Income (loss) from operations	$ (10,357)	$ (9,385)

Percentage of gross profit over revenue.

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Amount of income (loss) from continuing operations, including income (loss) from equity method investments, before deduction of income tax expense (benefit), and income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest.

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Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

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Total revenue from sale of goods and services rendered during the reporting period, in the normal course of business, reduced by sales returns and allowances, and sales discounts.

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