A surgical laser system includes a laser engine, configured to generate a laser beam of laser pulses; a proximal optics and a distal optics, together configured to direct the laser beam to a target region, and to scan the laser beam in the target region through a scanning-point sequence; and an aberration sensor, configured to sense aberration by an aberration layer; a compensation controller, coupled to the aberration sensor, configured to generate compensation-point-dependent phase compensation control signals based on the sensed aberration; and a spatial phase compensator, positioned between the proximal optics and the distal optics, at a conjugate aberration surface, conjugate to the aberration layer, and coupled to the compensation controller, configured to receive the compensation-point-dependent phase compensation control signals, and to alter a phase of the laser beam in a compensation-point-dependent manner to compensate the sensed aberration.