Apparatus for filling containers with liquids and in particular with beverages, includes a reservoir for the liquid to be bottled and a connecting line for transporting the liquid from the reservoir to a filling device. The methods include providing the droplet on a surface comprising an array of electrodes and a substantially co-planer array of reference elements, wherein the droplet is disposed on a first one of the electrodes, and the droplet at least partially overlaps a second one of the electrodes and an intervening one of the reference elements disposed between the first and second electrodes. an apparatus is described including means for extracting a subset, means for first encoding, means for combining, and means for second encoding. Each beam extends downwardly from a fixed end to a free end that can contact the ball.