Percentage of gross profit over revenue.

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- Definition

Income (Loss) from Equity Method Investments, Including Impairments

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Multi-client data library impairment charges.

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- Definition

Amount of loss from the write-down of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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- Definition

Aggregate revenue less cost of goods and services sold or operating expenses directly attributable to the revenue generation activity.

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- Definition

This element represents the income or loss from continuing operations attributable to the economic entity which may also be defined as revenue less expenses from ongoing operations, after income or loss from equity method investments, but before income taxes, extraordinary items, and noncontrolling interest.

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-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
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The net amount of nonoperating interest income (expense).

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No definition available.

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- Definition

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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The net result for the period of deducting operating expenses from operating revenues.

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The net amount of other income and expense amounts, the components of which are not separately disclosed on the income statement, resulting from ancillary business-related activities (that is, excluding major activities considered part of the normal operations of the business) also known as other nonoperating income (expense) recognized for the period. Such amounts may include: (a) dividends, (b) interest on securities, (c) net gains or losses on securities, (d) unusual costs, (e) gains or losses on foreign exchange transactions, and (f) miscellaneous other income and expense items.

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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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Segment and Geographic Information - Summary of Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) segment	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of operating segments \| segment									4
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues	$ 77,466	$ 66,674	$ 36,795	$ 40,578	$ 136,840	$ 106,540	$ 121,480	$ 144,698	$ 221,513	$ 509,558	$ 549,167
Gross profit (loss)	22,818	11,108	(10,135)	(15,788)	(62,082)	29,223	38,228	56,854	8,003	62,223	159,313
Income (loss) from operations	(380)	(12,874)	(40,689)	(46,689)	(136,036)	(5,349)	3,785	19,671	(100,632)	(117,929)	16,396
Interest expense, net	(4,667)	(4,854)	(4,607)	(4,625)	(4,603)	(5,048)	(4,934)	(4,797)	(18,753)	(19,382)	(12,344)
Equity in losses of investments									0	(49,485)	(42,320)
Other income (expense)	$ 240	$ (346)	$ 101,600	$ (3,219)	$ 5,890	$ (622)	$ 6,066	$ 68,526	98,275	79,860	(182,530)
Loss before income taxes									(21,110)	(106,936)	(220,798)
Impairment of multi-client data library									399	100,100	5,461
Write down of goodwill										21,884
Solutions [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Write down of goodwill										1,400
Systems [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Write down of goodwill										21,884
Software [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Write down of goodwill										0
Operating segments [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									221,513	509,558	549,167
Gross profit (loss)									$ 8,003	$ 62,223	$ 159,313
Gross margin									4.00%	12.00%	29.00%
Operating segments [Member] \| Solutions [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									$ 157,250	$ 277,904	$ 387,384
Gross profit (loss)									$ 13,508	$ (24,345)	$ 111,108
Gross margin									9.00%	(9.00%)	29.00%
Income (loss) from operations									$ (28,916)	$ (80,653)	$ 61,146
Operating segments [Member] \| Solutions [Member] \| New Venture [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									48,294	98,649	154,578
Operating segments [Member] \| Solutions [Member] \| Data Library [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									63,326	66,180	111,998
Operating segments [Member] \| Solutions [Member] \| New Venture and Data Library [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									111,620	164,829	266,576
Operating segments [Member] \| Solutions [Member] \| Data Processing [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									45,630	113,075	120,808
Operating segments [Member] \| Systems [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									36,269	88,417	122,432
Gross profit (loss)									$ 10,829	$ 29,829	$ 19,999
Gross margin									30.00%	34.00%	16.00%
Income (loss) from operations									$ (2,735)	$ (23,521)	$ (9,957)
Operating segments [Member] \| Systems [Member] \| Towed Streamer [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									15,016	43,995	66,991
Operating segments [Member] \| Systems [Member] \| Ocean Bottom Equipment [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									0	0	7,307
Operating segments [Member] \| Systems [Member] \| Other [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									21,253	44,422	48,134
Operating segments [Member] \| Software [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									27,994	39,993	39,351
Gross profit (loss)									$ 17,937	$ 28,835	$ 28,206
Gross margin									64.00%	72.00%	72.00%
Income (loss) from operations									$ 9,748	$ 20,212	$ 23,602
Operating segments [Member] \| Software [Member] \| Software Systems [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									24,764	36,203	35,418
Operating segments [Member] \| Software [Member] \| Services [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									3,230	3,790	3,933
Operating segments [Member] \| Ocean Bottom Services [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Revenues									0	103,244	0
Gross profit (loss)									$ (34,271)	$ 27,904	$ 0
Gross margin									0.00%	27.00%	0.00%
Income (loss) from operations									$ (40,756)	$ 19,070	$ 0
Corporate and other [Member]
Reclassified its previously reported results to reflect segment changes
Income (loss) from operations									$ (37,973)	$ (53,037)	$ (58,395)