A method and apparatus to determine capacitance variations of a first number of two or more sense elements of a touch screen device. A processing device is configured to detect a presence of a conductive object on any one of a second number of three or more button areas of the touch screen device. The first number of sense elements is less than the second number of button areas. The processing device is further configured to recognize an activation of one of the three or more button areas using the determined capacitance variations of the first number of two or more sense elements.