I've never actually used the Chrome Console before, but I had a look and it is reporting the getting images in the Network tab as I scroll, with the URL used it, for example;
http://192.168.0.14:52199/MCWS/v1/Browse/Image?Version=2&Token=zbADNMrt&ID=14957&FallbackColor=79%2C54%2C183&UseStackedImages=0&Format=pngBut I assumed that if the URL was used previously, and the image was in the cache, it would be used.
If I set the Network Conditions to Offline, Panel stops working.
I can see the images cached under "C:\Users\[userID]\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache", and if I scroll slowly in Panel, no new MCWS calls are made and no new images are cached until I have scrolled about 50 albums. Then the server went to sleep underneath Panel, and those 50 images were still available when I scrolled up and down the Album view, until Panel decided it had lost connection to the server and stopped working.
So, yes, Chrome does cache the images and it appears that Panel uses them. But not as many of them as I would have expected. There are a lot more images in the cache than are used. It is easy to see they are Cover Art images, just by editing the file name to add the png extension, and then the Windows Explorer file preview shows the image.
I suspect the small number of cached files is a consequence of the efforts to ensure that Cover Art images are refreshed often, so now art shows up quickly. There were complaints about new art not showing up for some time, or unless Panel was refreshed/restarted, if I remember correctly.
I've got to say it is a bit of a worry seeing the following message in the Console:
VM22:1 GET
http://192.168.0.14:52199/Panel/Options.xml 404 (File not found)
Is Panel itself calling a file that does not exist? Or is that Chrome calling an expected file that Panel doesn't provide?