Introduction and concepts
Some characters are designed especially for pseudographics, such as the old ▄ ▀ █ (as well as ▌ ▐ ░ ▒ ▓), already found in IBM PC / MS-DOS. These are often referred to as half blocks as they can be used to treat each character cell as 2 pseudo-pixels (or a 1×2 grid).
Others have been inherited from the PET / Commodore 64 and other 8-bit era computers, splitting each cell in 4 pseudo-pixels (or a 2×2 grid): ▖ ▘ ▌ ▗ ▄ ▚ ▙ ▝ ▞ ▀ ▛ ▐ ▟ ▜ █.
A higher grid density has been inherited from TRS-80 and Teletext, and now added to the Unicode Symbols for Legacy Computing, supporting 6 pseudo-pixels (or a 2×3 grid):
These are not yet supported, but are in other feature requests: #597 and #607
The next grid density of pseudo-pixels would be a 2×4 grid, and it sort of exists, as the Braille characters are basically that, but with discrete dots instead of a no-gap pixels-like grid: ⠀⠁⠂⠃⠄⠅⠆⠇⠈⠉⠊⠋⠌⠍⠎⠏⠐⠑⠒⠓⠔⠕⠖⠗⠘⠙⠚⠛⠜⠝⠞⠟⠠⠡⠢⠣⠤⠥⠦⠧⠨⠩⠪⠫⠬⠭⠮⠯⠰⠱⠲⠳⠴⠵⠶⠷⠸⠹⠺⠻⠼⠽⠾⠿⡀⡁⡂⡃⡄⡅⡆⡇⡈⡉⡊⡋⡌⡍⡎⡏⡐⡑⡒⡓⡔⡕⡖⡗⡘⡙⡚⡛⡜⡝⡞⡟⡠⡡⡢⡣⡤⡥⡦⡧⡨⡩⡪⡫⡬⡭⡮⡯⡰⡱⡲⡳⡴⡵⡶⡷⡸⡹⡺⡻⡼⡽⡾⡿⢀⢁⢂⢃⢄⢅⢆⢇⢈⢉⢊⢋⢌⢍⢎⢏⢐⢑⢒⢓⢔⢕⢖⢗⢘⢙⢚⢛⢜⢝⢞⢟⢠⢡⢢⢣⢤⢥⢦⢧⢨⢩⢪⢫⢬⢭⢮⢯⢰⢱⢲⢳⢴⢵⢶⢷⢸⢹⢺⢻⢼⢽⢾⢿⣀⣁⣂⣃⣄⣅⣆⣇⣈⣉⣊⣋⣌⣍⣎⣏⣐⣑⣒⣓⣔⣕⣖⣗⣘⣙⣚⣛⣜⣝⣞⣟⣠⣡⣢⣣⣤⣥⣦⣧⣨⣩⣪⣫⣬⣭⣮⣯⣰⣱⣲⣳⣴⣵⣶⣷⣸⣹⣺⣻⣼⣽⣾⣿
And that is exactly how these characters are already being used by terminal apps, as can be seen in the screenshots of #130, showing that the reason Braille has been added to Cascadia was precisely for their use as pseudo-graphic characters.
Another Braille design would improve the terminal
Now that we know Braille are often used as 2×4 pseudo-pixels grids in terminal apps, we could improve their display by optimizing their look for that scenario.
Here are their common discrete dots design currently found in Cascadia (reordered in a more natural pixels bits values order):
They could instead, or as a stylistic set, follow the design of the pseudo-pixels grids mentioned earlier:
This would greatly improve the look of text-mode apps using Braille as a high-density pseudo-graphics mode.
Note this is already the style used by the UNSCII font: http://viznut.fi/unscii/, which has been used for the example above.
I would even go as far as to say their pixels look should be the default and their classic discrete dots look should be the alternate stylistic set, as I believe they'll be used as pseudo-pixels much more regularly when used in the context of terminal apps than to provide visual representation of Braille to people who cannot take advantage of Braille displayed on a screen anyway.
Example
Here's a Braille pseudo-pixels example.
As displayed in Windows Terminal with the current Cascadia Mono:
As displayed in Windows Terminal with UNSCII:
Introduction and concepts
Some characters are designed especially for pseudographics, such as the old ▄ ▀ █ (as well as ▌ ▐ ░ ▒ ▓), already found in IBM PC / MS-DOS. These are often referred to as half blocks as they can be used to treat each character cell as 2 pseudo-pixels (or a 1×2 grid).
Others have been inherited from the PET / Commodore 64 and other 8-bit era computers, splitting each cell in 4 pseudo-pixels (or a 2×2 grid): ▖ ▘ ▌ ▗ ▄ ▚ ▙ ▝ ▞ ▀ ▛ ▐ ▟ ▜ █.
A higher grid density has been inherited from TRS-80 and Teletext, and now added to the Unicode Symbols for Legacy Computing, supporting 6 pseudo-pixels (or a 2×3 grid):
These are not yet supported, but are in other feature requests: #597 and #607
The next grid density of pseudo-pixels would be a 2×4 grid, and it sort of exists, as the Braille characters are basically that, but with discrete dots instead of a no-gap pixels-like grid: ⠀⠁⠂⠃⠄⠅⠆⠇⠈⠉⠊⠋⠌⠍⠎⠏⠐⠑⠒⠓⠔⠕⠖⠗⠘⠙⠚⠛⠜⠝⠞⠟⠠⠡⠢⠣⠤⠥⠦⠧⠨⠩⠪⠫⠬⠭⠮⠯⠰⠱⠲⠳⠴⠵⠶⠷⠸⠹⠺⠻⠼⠽⠾⠿⡀⡁⡂⡃⡄⡅⡆⡇⡈⡉⡊⡋⡌⡍⡎⡏⡐⡑⡒⡓⡔⡕⡖⡗⡘⡙⡚⡛⡜⡝⡞⡟⡠⡡⡢⡣⡤⡥⡦⡧⡨⡩⡪⡫⡬⡭⡮⡯⡰⡱⡲⡳⡴⡵⡶⡷⡸⡹⡺⡻⡼⡽⡾⡿⢀⢁⢂⢃⢄⢅⢆⢇⢈⢉⢊⢋⢌⢍⢎⢏⢐⢑⢒⢓⢔⢕⢖⢗⢘⢙⢚⢛⢜⢝⢞⢟⢠⢡⢢⢣⢤⢥⢦⢧⢨⢩⢪⢫⢬⢭⢮⢯⢰⢱⢲⢳⢴⢵⢶⢷⢸⢹⢺⢻⢼⢽⢾⢿⣀⣁⣂⣃⣄⣅⣆⣇⣈⣉⣊⣋⣌⣍⣎⣏⣐⣑⣒⣓⣔⣕⣖⣗⣘⣙⣚⣛⣜⣝⣞⣟⣠⣡⣢⣣⣤⣥⣦⣧⣨⣩⣪⣫⣬⣭⣮⣯⣰⣱⣲⣳⣴⣵⣶⣷⣸⣹⣺⣻⣼⣽⣾⣿
And that is exactly how these characters are already being used by terminal apps, as can be seen in the screenshots of #130, showing that the reason Braille has been added to Cascadia was precisely for their use as pseudo-graphic characters.
Another Braille design would improve the terminal
Now that we know Braille are often used as 2×4 pseudo-pixels grids in terminal apps, we could improve their display by optimizing their look for that scenario.
Here are their common discrete dots design currently found in Cascadia (reordered in a more natural pixels bits values order):
They could instead, or as a stylistic set, follow the design of the pseudo-pixels grids mentioned earlier:
This would greatly improve the look of text-mode apps using Braille as a high-density pseudo-graphics mode.
Note this is already the style used by the UNSCII font: http://viznut.fi/unscii/, which has been used for the example above.
I would even go as far as to say their pixels look should be the default and their classic discrete dots look should be the alternate stylistic set, as I believe they'll be used as pseudo-pixels much more regularly when used in the context of terminal apps than to provide visual representation of Braille to people who cannot take advantage of Braille displayed on a screen anyway.
Example
Here's a Braille pseudo-pixels example.
As displayed in Windows Terminal with the current Cascadia Mono:
As displayed in Windows Terminal with UNSCII:
