Use half blocks to keep pixel ration squared

[numaru]

There is a trick to keep the pixel ratio squared. The idea is to split a rectangular char into 2 pixels. To do so, Unicode lower half blocks u'\u2584' is used to draw the bottom pixel and the background color to draw the top one (or vice versa).

It is used in these projects:

• pixterm (go) https://github.com/eliukblau/pixterm
• termpix (rust) https://github.com/hopey-dishwasher/termpix
• term-img (python) https://github.com/keithieopia/term-img

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Pros

• Pixel squared
• Can still draw a blinky cursor
• Cool hacking solution 🐱‍💻

Cons

• Might loose mouse support since this require to get which one of the 2 pixels has been clicked
• Require Unicode 1.1.0 (June, 1993) support

[dylanaraps]

I like the idea, I’ll work on this.

[dylanaraps]

This will be difficult as we can't change the cursor shape, nor can we move the cursor in half blocks.

[numaru]

Yes it must be "faked" by drawing a blinky pixel. I was not sure if the idea could be implemented while keeping this project simple but I wanted to share the idea.

[Amar1729]

If you had the write characters for it (top half, bottom half blocks) could you do this by having one key for drawing the top half and a different key for drawing the bottom half?

[u9000-Nine]

If you had the right characters

Unicode has U+2580 UPPER HALF BLOCK ▀ (and U+2584 LOWER HALF BLOCK ▄, but we only need one)