Segment Information (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015 segment	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of business segments	4us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Summary of segment information
Revenues	$ 40,578,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	$ 144,698,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
Gross profit (loss)	(15,788,000)us-gaap_GrossProfit	56,854,000us-gaap_GrossProfit
Income (loss) from operations	(46,689,000)us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	19,671,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Interest expense, net	(4,625,000)	(4,797,000)
Equity in earnings (losses) of investments	0	(1,688,000)
Other income (expense), net	(3,219,000)us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense	68,526,000us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense
Income (loss) before income taxes	(54,533,000)	81,712,000
Operating segments [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	40,578,000	144,698,000
Gross profit (loss)	(15,788,000)	56,854,000
Gross margin	(39.00%)	39.00%
Operating segments [Member] \| Solutions [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	18,999,000	89,241,000
Gross profit (loss)	(10,392,000)	33,011,000
Gross margin	(55.00%)	37.00%
Income (loss) from operations	(21,778,000)	19,112,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Solutions [Member] \| New Venture and Data Library [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	7,166,000	45,955,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Solutions [Member] \| New Venture [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	5,029,000	32,738,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Solutions [Member] \| Data Library [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	2,137,000	13,217,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Solutions [Member] \| Data Processing [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	11,833,000	43,286,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Systems [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	12,769,000	24,848,000
Gross profit (loss)	4,559,000	11,417,000
Gross margin	36.00%	46.00%
Income (loss) from operations	1,014,000	3,371,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Systems [Member] \| Towed Streamer [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	5,165,000	11,851,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Systems [Member] \| Other [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	7,604,000	12,997,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Software [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	8,810,000	10,039,000
Gross profit (loss)	5,590,000	7,257,000
Gross margin	63.00%	72.00%
Income (loss) from operations	3,335,000	5,128,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Software [Member] \| Software Systems [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	7,729,000	9,154,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Software [Member] \| Services [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	1,081,000	885,000
Operating segments [Member] \| Ocean Bottom Services Segment [Member]
Summary of segment information
Revenues	0	20,570,000
Gross profit (loss)	(15,545,000)	5,169,000
Gross margin	0.00%	25.00%
Income (loss) from operations	(17,559,000)	4,162,000
Corporate and other [Member] \| Corporate and Other [Member]
Summary of segment information
Income (loss) from operations	(11,701,000)	(12,102,000)
INOVA Geophysical [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Equity method investments value			$ 0

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