How to directly measure or read the screen capacitance I am looking for a way to directly measure or read the (total or individual grid) change in capacitance as observed by the touchscreen of an android device. Is it possible to achieve this with the default android SDK, or does this require a more extensive knowledge of the hardware?
No. It is not possible to get this information with the Android SDK.

You might get this information if you have access to the drivers and the kernel of your device.